Bengaluru, Nov 6: Karnataka Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy on Tuesday said that the victory of Congress-Janata Dal(Secular) (JD-S) alliance in the by-elections was the first step towards winning all 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2019 general elections.
Addressing a press conference following the alliance's victory in two out of three Lok Sabha and two state assembly constituencies, Kumaraswamy said, "We have already decided to contest Lok Sabha polls together, but there is no question of us getting carried away by this. Our intention is to win all 28 seats in the Lok Sabha polls and to give the people as many programmes as possible by achieving that goal. This is not an empty promise just because we have won today. This (victory) reflects the confidence people have on us. This win is not making us arrogant."
The chief minister underlined that although the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency, the moral victory was theirs.
"BJP might have won in Shimoga but the moral victory is ours. Our candidate was abroad when we decided to select him. But he has done exceedingly well. Even in Jamakhandi and Ramanagara, our candidates have won. I would like to thank the people of the state for this," Kumaraswamy said.
He also lauded workers of both parties for their work during the elections, adding that the victory was a reply to the BJP, who termed the Congress-JD(S) alliance as an 'Apavitra Maitri' (unholy alliance).
"In this election, Congress leaders Siddaramaiah, Parameshwara, Shivakumar, Kagodu Thimappa, Dinesh Gundu Rao have worked very hard. I want to personally congratulate all the workers of both parties for this. Our victory in four seats and very narrow loss in one, despite BJP allegations that this was an unholy alliance, is a reply to the BJP," Kumaraswamy said.
The chief minister further leveled poaching allegations against the BJP, saying, "The BJP is offering around Rs 25-30 crore to some Congress and JD(S) MLAs, but they will never be able to poach them."
Responding to a question pertaining to the controversial Tipu Jayanti celebrations, scheduled to be held on November 10, Kumaraswamy said that it is up to the BJP if they wanted to participate in the celebration or not.
"I never said do or don't celebrate Tipu Jayanti. All I had said was there are many communities in the country who want to celebrate Jayanti of their leaders. If they (BJP) don't like to be part of the celebrations, there is no need to participate," the chief minister said.
While the Congress party considers the 18th century Mysore ruler as the first freedom fighter to have opposed the British rule on India, a number of BJP leaders consider him to be "against Kannada language and anti-Hindu".
The alliance candidates won the Jamakhandi and Ramanagar assembly seats and the Bellary and Mandya parliamentary seats, while the BJP retained the Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency. The win is a major boost for the ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance after the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the state by winning 104 out of 224 seats in the assembly election in May.
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