No harm in joining hands with JD(S) again, says Cong

Bengaluru: Sounding upbeat after forming a coalition government in Maharashtra, Congress in Karnataka on Sunday indicated it was not averse to joining hands with JD(S) once again, in case the ruling BJP fails to garner required number of seats to be in majority, after December 5 by-polls.
Even though JD(S) leaders have already dropped enough hints about the party being open to such a possibility, JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda’s contradictory statement on Sunday points to lack of clarity within the regional party on the matter. The Congress and JD(S), who ran a coalition government for 14 months in the state and contested Lok Sabha polls in alliance, have parted ways after the collapse of the HD Kumaraswamy ministry in July following the rebellion by 17 MLAs, and are contesting the bypolls independently.
The ruling BJP led by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa needs to win at least six seats in the bypolls to 15 constituencies to remain in a majority in the 224-member assembly, which would still have two vacant seats– Maski and R R Nagar.
With the campaigning for bypolls ending on Tuesday, political leaders are indulging in hectic electioneering in 15 constituencies to woo voters.
The chief minister asserted that BJP’s candidates in all the 15 assembly constituencies going for the bypolls would be victorious. (PTI)