Deve Gowda urges voters to defeat disqualified MLAs in Dec 5

A day after public campaigning ended for bypolls in 15 Assembly constituencies of Karnataka, JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda on Wednesday urged voters to defeat the disqualified legislators, and uphold the dignity of the state.

People of the state have got absolute authority togive their verdict against the disqualified MLAs, who defected from the party for the sake of moneyand power, the former Prime Minister said.

"People of the country have their attention on the verdict that the people of Karnataka will give.

I request them to give a verdict that upholds the dignity of the state,without falling for any allurements," Gowda tweeted.

"In the bypolls that will be held tomorrow, Irequest you to vote for JD(S) candidates and bless them. #DefeatTheDisqualified #RejectDisqualifiedMLAs," he added.

The ruling BJP needs to win at least six seats inthe bypolls to 15 constituencies to remain in a majority inthe 224-member assembly, which would still have two vacant seats-- Maski and R R Nagar.

The BJP has fielded 13 of the 16 disqualified legislators who joined the party from their respective constituencies, as it candidates.

The bypolls were necessitated after the resignation and absence of 17 Congress-JD(S) legislators during the trust vote in July, which led to the collapse of the H D Kumaraswamy headed JDS-Congress coalition government and paved the way for BJP to come to power.

The 17 legislators were subsequently disqualified by the then Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar, under anti-defection law.

However, the Supreme Court that heard the MLAs' petition challenging the disqualification, last month allowed them to contest the bypolls.

Among 15 constituencies going to the bypolls, 12 were held by Congress and three by JD(S).

JD(S) candidates are in the fray in 12 out of 15 constituencies, and the party is supporting BJP rebel and independent candidate Sharath Bachegowda in Hoskote.

In Hirekerur and Athani, the JD(S) candidates had withdrawn their nomination at the last moment.

Recently, Gowda and his son H D Kumaraswamy have sent mixed signals about the post-bypolls tie-up with Congress to form a government, in case the BJP fails to garner required number of seats in the byelections and falls short of majority.