Bengaluru: Buoyed by the huge victory in the bypolls, the Congress and the JD(S) asserted they would contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections together against the BJP.
Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy hailed the people for their support to the coalition government and said the two parties would contest the 2019 polls together in all the 28 constituencies in the state.
He backed the Congress to lead the proposed grand alliance against the BJP at the Centre, saying it would be the leading party of the opposition and will win the largest number of seats.
The alliance has a shot at forming the next government and it should be led by Rahul Gandhi, he said.
“Naturally, for the future election, Congress is the national party. They are going to get individually more number of seats. Because of that reason, they have to lead. Congress has to take the lead. For Congress, all regional parties must come together and support," he told a TV channel.
Kumaraswamy said that every time the BJP has fought against a united opposition, it has had to face defeat, whether it be against the BSP and SP in Uttar Pradesh or the Congress and JD(S) in Karnataka.
“My analysis says that it will be a mahagathbanhdhan sarkar (grand alliance government) in 2019. People will bless the grand alliance," he told the channel, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be a “non-factor”.
He attributed the victory in the bypoll to the pro-people policies of his government. "We took many pro-people measures which are at the stage of implementation. The benefits have not reached them yet," the chief minister said. However, people liked our policies, be it the crop loan waiver or financial aid to the street vendors, he said.
At a press conference, Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao said their sounding victory was an indication that the people of Karnataka had given their approval to the coalition government's policies. "It has rejected the BJP, its divisive politics and dictatorial tendencies. We will contest the 2019 election together," he said.
Rao charged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with forgetting its duty as a responsible opposition. "The power hungry BJP did not fulfil its responsibility of an opposition party. They set aside ethics and morality due to which they faced defeat at four places while its victory marginshrunk substantially in Shivamogga," Rao said.
Anitha Kumaraswamy, who won the election from the Ramanagara assembly constituency, gave credit for her victory to the tireless efforts of her chief minister husband Kumaraswamy, her father-in-law and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and Congress leaders.
Former chief minister Siddaramaiah tweeted, "A meaningful celebration of Naraka Chaturdashi in Ballari. People's march from darkness to light. Wishing the people of Karnataka a happy Deepawali."
Tuesday happened to be Naraka Chaturdashi, a festival to mark the death of Narakasura, who was killed by Lord Krishna and his wife Satyabhama.
Siddaramaiah tweeted further, "My thanks to the people of Ballari. People have cursed the inhuman behaviour of Janardhana Reddy."
In the run-up to the bypolls, Janardhana Reddy had kicked up a storm, saying that God cursed Siddarmaiah with the loss of his son for him (Reddy) languishing in jail for four years, though nothing incriminating was found from him.
Reddy was criticised not only by the Congress leaders, but also by the BJP, with its state chief B S Yeddyurappa even asking Reddy to apologise for his remarks.
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