JD(S) to keep off Assembly byelections

The JD (S) has decided not to contest the byelections in three Assembly constituencies.

Party National President H D Deve Gowda, while addressing a press conference on Thursday, said, “If you ask me, contesting in these three constituencies is a waste.

While we do not have the money power, the other two parties (BJP and Congress) have quite deep pockets to spend for the byelections. We are very much unlikely to win. Our priority is to rebuild the party and save JD (S).”

The party took the decision after a meeting in the evening. However, earlier, Gowda and his son H D Kumaraswamy spoke differently, with the latter saying that a final decision was yet to be taken.

Gowda referred to his son’s opinion over how difficult it was to contest elections, hinting at Kumaraswamy’s justification for the cash-for-MLC scandal. “In such circumstances, I have requested Kumaraswamy to not field any candidate for the by-elections,” said Gowda.

Kumaraswamy had said, “In Shikaripura, there is lot of pressure from party workers to field H Baligar. We have a sizeable base in the constituency because of Madhu Bangarappa and his family. In the other two constituencies also there is pressure to field contestants. If not for winning, we have to consider the party workers’ morale and take a suitable decision,” he said.