Trusting alliance with JD(S) was a mistake, says Moily

The Congress could have won at least 15-16 seats if there was no alliance with the JD(S), senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily said Saturday.

“It was a mistake trusting the alliance,” Moily told reporters in Chikkaballapur, about 60 kilometres from Bengaluru. “If there was no alliance, the Congress would’ve won 15-16 seats. Our own people were against the alliance,” he said.

Moily, a former union minister, lost the Chikkaballapur Lok Sabha seat in the recent election, which the BJP swept by winning 25 out 28 seats in Karnataka. The Congress and the JD(S) won one seat each - Bangalore Rural and Hassan, respectively. Moily lost to BJP’s BN Bachegowda by 1.82 lakh votes.

This is the second time Moily has publicly lamented the party’s decision to fight the Lok Sabha election with the JD(S). A week after the Lok Sabha election results were announced, Moily had blamed the JD(S) for his defeat, saying the regional party did not support him and depending on their votes was a mistake.

Moily also said that he would continue to work with the people of Chikkaballapur. “I don't know if I'll contest again. I don’t have such an aspiration anyway,” he said.