Cong will form govt on its own in K'taka: Kharge

Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said the Congress party will not have an alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka Assembly polls.

Kharge said the Congress will contest Karnataka assembly elections alone as he is confident that the party will be able to form the government on its own.

"The alliance with the JD(S) for Karnataka polls is not possible because we are going alone because Congress party has done very good work. AICC General Secretary In-charge of Karnataka K.C. Venugopal, Chief Minister Siddarammaiah, Karnataka Congress President Dr G Parameshwara, and the entire state unit are working very hard and I am hopeful that the Congress will form the government on its own," Kharge said.

He said that the same proposal had come in 1999 but he had advised then Congress President Sonia Gandhi as the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader against it and the party won the election on its own that year.

"This proposal even came in 1999 and I, as then Congress Legislative Party leader, requested Sonia Gandhi not to form an alliance with the JD(S) given the fact that our party was strong enough to get a majority on its own. Ultimately, she agreed and Congress formed the government on its own. This time also I am hoping Congress' own government will be formed," Kharge said.

The JD(S) is led by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda. It was formed in July 1999 after the split of Janata Dal party.

The party is recognised as a state party in the states of Karnataka and Kerala. It has a political presence mainly in Karnataka. In Kerala, the party is part of the Left Democratic Front.