JD(S) to go it alone in Assembly polls

The Janata Dal (Secular) has resolved to go it alone in the Assembly elections. The parliamentary board of the party, which met in Bangalore at a private resort on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday, has decided to fight the polls on its own strength and has decided against having political alliances with any party in the State.

Prominent leaders, including Basavaraj Horatti, Bandeppa Kashampur, Basavaraj Patil Yatnal, Zameer Ahmed and P.G.R. Sindhya are participating in the two-day meeting, which will conclude on Wednesday.

Briefing the media on the outcome of the first day’s meeting, JD(S) State president H.D. Kumaraswamy said the list of candidates for all the 224 Assembly segments will be finalised by Wednesday evening and released on Saturday.

Noting that the party had received over 800 applications from aspirants,he said it had been decided to accord priority to minority communities, backward classes and women in the selection of candidates. The party had decided against entertaining those who had succumbed to ‘Operation Kamala’ launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Sources in the JD(S) disclosed that the party had decided to field leaders from the Dalit community in general constituencies.

Oath-taking

A senior leader, who was at the meeting, said various issues, including asking the selected candidates to bring at least 2,000 people from their constituencies to Bangalore and take oath to remain loyal to the party was discussed.

The parliamentary board had collected all information about the candidates, including their assets and liabilities to scrutinise them before finalising their candidature. The details would also be uploaded on the party’s official website, he said.

They were also studying the background of candidates to keep away those with criminal antecedents. However, exceptions would be made to those who are facing cases because of political vendetta, he added.

Party leaders have also discussed the possibility of fielding the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamay from a constituency in north Karnataka, other than the already decided Ramanagaram, to infuse confidence among the candidates of the region. However, the decision was left to Mr. Kumaraswamy, he said.