He asserted that the Congress will win at least 20 out of 28 seats from the state in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Published Feb 18, 2024 | 7:19 PM ⚊ Updated Feb 18, 2024 | 7:21 PM
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah. (X)
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday, 18 February, said that former prime minister HD Deve Gowda felt compelled to form an alliance between the JD(S) and the the BJP because many of his MLAs were ready to quit the party.
He said a “drama” was played by the JD(S) patriarch to prevent the JD(S) from becoming “zero”.
Earlier in the day he asserted that the Congress will win at least 20 out of 28 seats from the state in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
He also junked the BJP’s claim of winning all the 28 seats.
Addressing a public meeting at Malavalli in Mandya district, the chief minister reminded the audience that the JD(S) had won 37 seats in 2018 but lost 18 seats in 2023 when it won only 19 seats in the Assembly elections.
“Fearing that they will be ‘zero’, they forged an alliance with the BJP because many JD(S) MLAs were ready to quit their party. To stop them, Deve Gowda staged the drama [of BJP-JD(S) alliance],” he said.
Siddaramaiah said he vividly remembers Deve Gowda once saying that he would prefer to be born as a ‘Musalman’ in his next birth, but today he has forged an alliance with the BJP.
“I pray to you with folded hands, please remove the word ‘secular’ from your party Janata Dal (Secular). You have no moral right to use the word ‘secular’ anymore after forming an alliance with the communal BJP,” the chief minister said, targeting his remarks at the JD(S).
He appealed to the people of Mandya to vote for the Congress as it fulfilled all the five key guarantees including ‘Shakti’ scheme offering free bus rides to Karnataka women in non-luxury government buses anywhere in the state.
So far women in Karnataka have taken up 155 crore rides, he told people.
“We are preparing to win at least 20 seats this time. The BJP is making exaggerated claims that they will win all the 28 seats because they have realised that people will bless Congress this time,” the Congress leader told reporters at Malavalli in Mandya district.
Regarding the Congress strategy to fight against the coalition of BJP and Janata Dal (Secular), Siddaramaiah said there are no two parties in the opposition.
“This time we have only one opposition. There are no two parties but only one party in the opposition. JD(S) has merged with the BJP and is not functioning like a separate party,” he said.
The BJP swept the 2019 Parliamentary polls in Karnataka by winning 25 seats, while an independent (Sumalatha Ambareesh from Mandya) backed by it won one seat. The Congress and JD(S) won one seat each.
To a question on fielding sitting ministers in the general elections, the CM said whoever the local MLAs and district level party office bearers recommend will be fielded.
On opposition parties’ criticisim of the budget, Siddaramaiah replied that those who are ‘anti-poor’ cannot understand the budget.
(With PTI inputs)
