No truck with any party in panchayat polls, says Gowda

JD(S) national president H D Deve Gowda on Thursday said his party would go it alone in the upcoming taluk and gram panchayat elections in the State.

Addressing reporters, he said the party had already begun preparations for the polls. JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy has been entrusted with the responsibility of selecting the candidates and he will shortly consult local party leaders in this regard, he added.

On the party’s defeat in the Hassan local body constituency in the Council polls, Gowda said: “Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had tried to defeat me in the parliamentary elections in 2014, but he did not succeed. He seems to have now become immensely happy after the defeat of our candidate in Hassan (in the Council polls).”

He, however, said he had been pained by the party’s defeat in Hassan. The party workers had put in a lot of effort to win the Bengaluru Rural, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga seats, but in vain, he said.