Gowda, Siddaramaiah to campaign jointly

They will tour all the 28 constituencies from April 8

Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda and the former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will tour all the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State from April 8 and campaign for the coalition candidates.

Mr. Siddaramaiah said on Friday that all workers and leaders of the Congress and the JD(S) have to work towards defeating the “communal” Bharatiya Janata Party in all the 28 constituencies. Mr. Gowda also appealed to workers and leaders of the two parties to “forget the past, and look forward for a bigger cause”.

Mr. Gowda told

The Hindu that the rally on March 31 in Bengaluru, which would be jointly addressed by him and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, signals the beginning of the joint campaign. Bengaluru has been chosen as it was easy to reach out to the electorate in the four constituencies of Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru North, Bengaluru South, and Bengaluru Central.

Mr. Gowda, despite an injury in his right leg, attended a joint meeting of Congress and JD(S) leaders on Thursday to tie up loose ends in the alliance after the seat-sharing agreement.

“The JD(S) needs support of the Congress to improve its tally just as the Congress needs the JD(S). Senior leaders and legislators should not make statements detrimental to the alliance,” he said.

On surrendering Bengaluru North seat to the Congress, Mr. Gowda said, “I don’t claim that the JD(S) sacrificed Bengaluru North. We surrendered the seat to defeat the BJP in that constituency.”