Siddaramaiah scoffs at secret pact with JD(S)

Mysuru: Former CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday denied that the Congress was in a secret alliance with the Janata Dal (S) for the December 5 bypolls, claiming that the party was as much its rival as the BJP.

“Both parties will not win even a single seat. We will win all 15 . There's no doubt about it,” he asserted, speaking to reporters at the Mysuru airport. But his statement was contradictory to his appeal to the people of Hunsur constituency earlier, where he sought the support of JD(S) voters, saying both their intentions were to defeat BJP.  “After December 9 our party will come to power and BJP government will fall,” he told them.

Asked for his response by reporters at the airport to former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy's comment that senior Congress leader, Mallikarjun Kharge would distribute sweets (by becoming CM) after the bypolls, Mr Siddaramaiah said there was no such development in the offing. "But his statement only means that the Congress will win in all 15 constituencies,” he argued.

Alleging that the former Congress MLAs who defected to the BJP, were spending huge sums of money they had received from the saffron party on the byelections, he said  people would not fall for their tactics.

While campaigning in Hunsur, Mr Siddaramaiah countered disqualified legislator A.H. Vishwanath's claim that he had quit the JD(S) to uphold his dignity just like he had, saying, “Mr Vishwanath is a liar. I didn't resign, I was removed from the party by (JDS supremo) H.D. Deve Gowda.” Calling the BJP candidate's  claim that he would give Hunsur district status if elected, a gimmick, he alleged that he had little credibility as he had cheated the late CM  Devaraj Urs.