Karnataka - Bangalore   

Congress, BJP trying to woo MLAs: Kumaraswamy

— Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

Expressing his stand: Former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy addressing a press conference in Bangalore on Friday.

Bangalore: The former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has alleged that political parties such as the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are still working at luring the legislators of the Janata Dal (Secular).

At a press conference here on Friday, Mr. Kumaraswamy said the Janata Dal (Secular) Legislature Party would remain united and refrain from falling to the game plan of both the parties.

He lashed out at the BJP leadership and said that the former Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa rather than accuse the Janata Dal (Secular) should fight against some of the BJP leaders who were successful in preventing him from taking over the reins of the Government. “I like to repeat that none of the BJP leaders either spoke to me or the Janata Dal (Secular) president, H.D. Deve Gowda on power transfer. They were keen on shifting the venue of discussions to New Delhi and, thereafter using their clout there, called off the talks even before it could be concluded,” he said.

The former Chief Minister said the Janata Dal (Secular) Legislature Party would meet on October 15 and 16 and chalk out the next course of action. “The party leadership has decided to maintain equidistance from both the Congress and the BJP and we will hear the views of the legislators on what they want. In my opinion the best option is seek a fresh mandate from the people at the earliest,” Mr. Kumaraswamy said.

Mr. Kumaraswamy said while Governor Rameshwar Thakur had recommended President’s Rule and dissolution of the Legislative Assembly, the Union Cabinet took nearly 24 hours to respond. The Legislative Assembly had been kept under suspended animation. “It is for the Congress leaders to explain as to why the Assembly has been kept under suspended animation irrespective of the clear cut recommendation of the Governor who has said no political party was capable of forming a Government,” he said.

With reference to the BJP, Mr. Kumaraswamy alleged that Yashwant Sinha, who arrived in Bangalore on September 30 to hold talks on the power transfer issue, never really talked on the subject with Mr. Deve Gowda at a “midnight secret meeting.”

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