JD(S) won't back Congress, BJP: H D Kumaraswamy

BELAGAVI: State Janata Dal (Secular) president H D Kumaraswamy said his party would not support the Congress or BJP, post the forthcoming Assembly polls, and party patriarch H D Deve Gowda's recent meeting with coal and railways minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi was an apolitical discussion on projects proposed in Hassan district. 

He told the media here that his party would field candidates in all 224 Assembly constituencies in order to the secure the magic number of 113, and expressed confidence that it would win more than 45 seats in north Karnataka. In desperation, leaders of the ruling Congress were trying to malign the image of his party and misleading Muslim voters that JD (S) would forge an alliance with the BJP in the wake of Mr Deve Gowda's meeting with Mr Piyush Goyal, he added.   

Mr Kumaraswamy blamed leaders of both Congress and the BJP for spate of violent incidents in Dakshina Kannada district, and charged that rift between leaders of these two parties sparked clashes in the region in recent days. 

Besides, neither Deepak Rao nor Paresh Mestha belonged to any right-wing outfit or the BJP, a fact established by statements of parents of both these victims, he added. 

Attributing the success of Mr Siddaramaiah's success in politics to his stint in JD (S), he said the leader could ascend to the position of Chief Minister owing to his association with the party.