It won't be a surprise if Cong gets only 25 seats: Kumaraswamy

JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy, on Tuesday, launched a tirade against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and said, "It will not be a surprise if the Congress gets only 25 seats in the upcoming Assembly elections."

Addressing media, here, Kumaraswamy said, "Siddaramaiah is diverting the people by issuing statements that the JD(S) will not get even 25 seats. According to the recent political developments, it will not be a surprise if the Congress itself gets only 25 seats."

Kumaraswamy said, "I am blamed for spoiling the political future of former prime minister and my father H D Deve Gowda. At least, for this reason, I have to become chief minister and dedicate the victory of the party to him."

"The Congress and the BJP have been criticising the JD(S) as the father-son party. What are the BJP and the Congress up to now? While Siddaramaiah is fielding his son Dr Yathindra, B S Yeddyurappa's son Vijayendra is being fielded from Varuna. What is their contribution to Varuna constituency?" he asked.

"The tactics of any political 'chanakya' will not work in the elections in Karnataka. The party's target is to win 113 seats and we will achieve it," Kumaraswamy said.

Commenting on Chamundeshwari constituency, Kumaraswamy said that it is very difficult for Siddaramaiah to win the elections. "He had won by a threadbare margin of 257 votes when he contested the polls from the constituency in the 2006 by-polls. Though we had won the polls, technically we had failed. This time, we have taken enough steps to ensure that such mistakes do not recur," he said.

Party-hopping

Commenting on the recent party-hopping, Kumaraswamy said, "It is common during election-time. He predicted that there will be large-scale defection in the next 10 to 15 days. The Congress and the BJP have kept their doors open to induct anybody willing to join them."

However, he refused to reply to a question on MLA Zameer Ahmed and said, "He is a political clown."

Contestants

Kumaraswamy reiterated that only two members of his family would contest the Assembly elections. "The people of Ramanagaram are aware of the development works taken up in the constituency. So, they will vote me to power even if I do not go for canvassing," he said.

The party workers are exerting pressure to field Anitha Kumaraswamy from Ramanagaram. But we have decided to field only two members of the family to come out of the 'family party' tag, he said.