‘Will back coalition govt, not JD(S)’ says rebel politician

Congress leader and JD(S) rebel N Cheluvarayaswamy, who lost the Assembly polls, on Saturday said that he will not support Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy as a person, but he respects the JD(S)-Congress coalition government.

In a joint press conference, with Ramesh Babu Bandisiddegowda and Ganiga P Ravikumargowda, here, Cheluvarayaswamy said, “I will not go with either Kumaraswamy or JD(S) just because Congress has supported him. I accept the coalition government as per the party’s stand,” he said.

“Out of the seven leaders who quit JD(S) to join the Congress, four have been defeated. We respect people’s decision. We respect the coalition government as Congress is part of it,” he said.

JD(S) rebel MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan too will not support Kumaraswamy personally, but he is there because of the party. It will not be possible for Kumaraswamy to take unilateral decision as the ministry will have 70% Congressmen, he said.

Cheluvarayaswamy said as people rejected him in the polls, he will not contest the Lok Sabha elections. I will remain as a Congress party worker and will actively participate in the party activities, he said.