Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has emphatically ruled out the possibility of the Congress forging an alliance with the JD(S) in the forthcoming Assembly elections in the State.
It is true that there has been discussions at the national-level of forming a grand alliance of secular parties to combat the BJP. However, in Karnataka, the situation is different and the Congress will not opt for an alliance with any political party, Mr. Siddaramaiah told presspersons here on Saturday.
Replying to a question, the CM said that the decision by JD(S) not to field any candidate for the recent Nanjangud and Gundlupet Assembly bypolls may be one of the reasons behind the victory of the Congress in both the segments. Mr. Siddaramaiah justified his action of taking Mandya Superintendent of Police C.H. Sudhir Kumar Reddy to task in public for the alleged lapse in security arrangements and said that, the protesters, said to be BJP activists, crossed the path of his car. “Coming in the way of speeding vehicles may lead to untoward incidents. There was a lapse in the arrangements and I questioned it,” he said. Mr. Siddaramaiah said that expansion of the State Cabinet will be taken up soon. The vacancies were created owing to the demise of H.S. Mahadeva Prasad and the resignation of H.Y. Metti.
