BRS to support JD(S) in Karnataka polls

Hyderabad: With the Election Commission of India (ECI) announcing the schedule for the Karnataka Assembly polls, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has decided to throw his party’s weight fully behind former chief minister Kumaraswamy by sending a few ministers, party MPs and MLAs to Karnataka to campaign for the JD (Secular).

Rao met with ministers, MLAs, and senior party leaders at Pragathi Bhavan on Wednesday to discuss the strategy that needs to be adopted in ensuring that the JD(S) emerges victorious in the Assembly elections. BRS leaders and workers are expected to hit the campaign trail soon after the EC issues poll notification on April 13. Rao wants to stick to his promise made to Kumaraswamy last year on supporting the JDS in the Assembly polls and depute the BRS leaders, especially from districts neighbouring Karnataka, to work for the JDS, sources said.

While several ministries, party MPs, and MLAs will campaign for the JDS in the Assembly elections, the CM has yet to decide on his campaign plan. According to party insiders, the CM would definitely campaign for the JDS, notably in districts bordering Telangana in the Kalyana-Karnataka region, formerly known as Hyderabad-Karnataka and was part of Hyderabad State during the Nizam regime. The BRS leaders would campaign for JD(S) candidates, particularly in places with a high concentration of Telugu-speaking people.

The JDS has already announced the names of 93 candidates for Assembly polls in December last out of a total 224 Assembly constituencies. Once the remaining candidates are declared, the BRS leadership plans to undertake a full-fledged campaign in support of JDS.

Rao on December 9 declared his support for the JDS in the Assembly elections, declaring that he wants Kumuraswamy to be the next CM of Karnataka. Rao went on to stress that the BRS leaders and party workers will work hard to ensure the JDS victory in the Assembly elections.

Rao made these comments while addressing an event at Telangana Bhavan on December 9, the party's headquarters, that was held to formally sign the papers sent by Election Commission approving the party’s name change from the TRS to BRS, which was attended by Kumaraswamy.  Kumaraswamy also attended the TRS meeting on October 5 last year on the occasion of Dasara, which was held to pass a resolution seeking the EC to approve the party's name change to the BRS. The JDS chief also attended the BRS office inauguration in New Delhi on December 14. Further, he declared that the JDS and BRS will not enter into a pre-poll alliance as the BRS was not interested in contesting Karnataka Assembly polls.