Cong using poached JD(S) leaders against me, says Deve Gowda

Former prime minister and JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda took a dig at the State Congress unit and said the party was using the leaders poached from JD(S) against him.

“The strength of the original Congressmen is not with the party anymore. What will be the position of the Congress after the elections is a big question mark,” he said.

Responding to a question, he said a post-poll alliance between the JD(S) and the BJP was unlikely, as he blamed the BJP for his defeat in the 1999 Lok Sabha polls.

“Apart from that, we all know how well the coalition between the JD(S) and the BJP, with H D Kumaraswamy as the chief minister, fared in the State,” he said.

He rubbished the statements made by the Opposition that the JD(S) will be decimated in the State after the Lok Sabha polls.

‘Confident of faring well’

“The party has always recovered from blows in the past. JD(S) is confident of faring well in the elections. How many seats the party will win in the State will be known only after elections,” he said. On delay in nominating candidates for Lok Sabha polls in the State, he said even the BJP and the Congress had announced candidates in three phases.

“We do the same calculations as done by other parties before nominating candidates. The delays were due to the complications in choosing candidates in Karnataka today,” he said.