ULB polls: Rao calls on Gowda over tie-up

JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda and KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao held talks on Saturday on the possibility of the two parties forging an alliance for the upcoming urban local body (ULB) elections.

Rao visited Gowda at his residence - this was the first time the two met after Rao took charge as KPCC president - and discussed strategic places where the parties could join hands, even by way of a post-poll alliance, to keep the BJP out of power at the local level. However, both Rao and Gowda did not divulge the details of their discussion.

Earlier in the day, Rao told reporters that the party was still undecided on joining hands with the JD(S) for the 105 ULB polls scheduled for August 29. He also said a delegation of state leaders would head to Delhi after August 15 to discuss Cabinet expansion with the party top brass.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is slated to address a public event organised by the party in Bidar on August 13, Rao said. This will mark Gandhi’s first visit to Karnataka, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Gandhi visited Karnataka last for Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s oath-taking ceremony. Rao, however, said Gandhi’s visit was not going to be a formal launch of the party’s Lok Sabha election campaign.