Asserting that Congress would win two-thirds of the 15 assembly seats going to bypolls on December 5, state party President Dinesh Gundu Rao on Monday claimed the outcome would not bring stability to the BJP government in the state.
He also said the Congress was prepared to face a mid- term poll if the situation arose, adding none of the parties, however, wanted a snapp election to the assembly.
Rao claimed BJP would get only lesser number of seats in the bypolls and the outcome would make the government instable while expressing confidence that Congress would win 10-12 seats.
"You (BJP) destabilise a government and then you want to form a stable government, it is not going to be possible. There will be no stability in this government," he told PTI.
The Congress and JDS have accused the BJP of engineering the rebellion by 17 of their MLAs that led to the fall of the government headed by H D Kumaraswamy in July.
The BJP, which came to power following the fall of the Congress-JDS coalition ministry, needs to win at least six of the 15 assembly seats in the bypolls, necessitated by the disqualification of the 17 MLAs, to keep its majority in tact.
In a democracy, when no stable government can be formed, ultimately we will have to go back to the people. Let us see what happens after the bypoll results, how things works, what all happens. There may be unforeseen developments like in Maharashtra, Rao added.
On possibilities of a mid-term election, he said: ..nobody wants election, BJP does not want midterm poll, neither do Congress MLAs want, neither do JD(S) MLAs, no MLAs want midterm polls. If it happens it happens, and at that time everybody will have to face it, Rao said.
His comments come at a time when several leaders, including Congress Legislature Party Leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah, have been predicting the collapse of B S Yediyurappa government after the bypolls and the possibility of mid-term elections to the assembly.
Rao also pointed to disgruntlement within the BJP over giving party tickets to the disqualified Congress and JDS legislators and said There is a split within the BJP also, so I dont see a stability coming about through this bypolls."
Asked about the role that the Congress might play if the government falls short of a majority, Rao said, lets see, I dont want to speculate, anything can happen. You have seen what is happening in Maharashtra
On whether the option of joining hands with JD(S) again was still open, he said I cant say anything now. I cant predict, politics is the art of the possibles."
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