BENGALURU---Buoyed by the success of Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal Secular (JDS) alliance in the recent Lok Sabha in Karnataka winning 19 seats together, leaders of both the parties expressed willingness to continue their alliance to contest the ensuing elections to City Corporations, Zilla Panchayat among others.
In the Lok Sabha polls, BJP won 17 seats and JDS won in 2 seats. The Congress party won in 9 seats. When alliance was forged with BJP by the JDS, State president of JDS H.D. Kumaraswamy stated that the alliance with BJP was confined to Lok Sabha elections alone.
At a felicitation function held in Bengaluru to the newly elected Lok Sabha members of JDS-BJP from Karnataka, former Chief Minister and BJP Central Parliamentary Board member B.S. Yediyurappa told the gathering that elections to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Zilla Panchayat, Taluk and Gram Panchayats will be held and both the alliance partners will strive to win all these elections.
Yediyurappa vowed to showcase the strength of alliance partners in the ensuing polls and thanked party workers over alliance partners' success in Lok Sabha polls.
JDS State president and Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy expressed a wish to continue the alliance with BJP in the ensuing polls to Mysore City Corporation and others in the State and called upon the leaders of both the parties to work in tandem to achieve success in the ensuing elections.
Kumaraswamy asked alliance partners to prepare to face the ensuing polls and appealed to leaders and party workers not to heed to talks which could prove detrimental for the alliance. “If anyone tries to come in the way of the alliance, it is better to ignore them,” said Kumaraswamy.
Recalling earlier alliance with BJP by JDS in 2006, Kumaraswamy said he ascended the post of Chief Minister owing to the support of BJP leader and former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa termed the alliance between JDS-BJP as quite natural.
The JDS president stated that the JDS-BJP alliance in the State has the approval of Yediyurappa and criticized the ruling Congress party over price rise, especially fuel prices.
Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Union Minister of State for Railways V. Somanna, State BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra spoke.
