Janata Dal (Secular) leader and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Friday said he was neither surprised nor shocked by the cross-voting that resulted in the defeat of the JD(S) candidate in the Karnataka Legislative Council elections. He said that he had prior knowledge of the MLAs who could vote against the party. Speaking to the media, he said, “I have full knowledge of who has cross-voted in Thursday’s election. I already knew who would cross-vote and from whose side it would come. Therefore, I have not been shocked by the results of this election and the cross-voting.”
The JD(S) leader’s statement came as the ruling Congress won five out of seven Legislative Council seats, while the BJP won two, leaving JD(S) with no seats. He said the results highlighted cross-voting by opposition BJP and JD(S) MLAs, giving the Congress 151 votes, 11 more than its projected 140 votes.
‘They were testing the MLAs’
Kumaraswamy said, “I fielded a candidate to see how my party MLAs would present themselves even today.” He said former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda’s long-standing trust in party leaders and workers often protected him from serious action, even when he faced repeated failures. “In the last 70 years, he has faced continuous setbacks, but still thinks that nothing should go wrong with the party. Because of that attachment, he tries to save everyone,” Kumaraswamy said, referring to a veteran JD(S) leader.
Youth will be the new face in the party
Kumaraswamy indicated that the current situation demands a different approach to protect both the party and the state. “Today we have to save this party and more importantly save this state. Along with this, the Union Minister also hinted at the generational change within JD(S). He said that his intention is to give more opportunities to young leaders. “I am ready. I have decided that youth and new faces should be given more priority in this party.
‘In the end I will take all the decisions’
He said that when asked about disciplinary action within the party after the election results, Kumaraswamy said that there can be consultations at different levels, but the final decision will be his. In the end, whoever goes and whoever will be discussed or discussed with, the final decision in all this will be mine and it will also depend on the opinion of my party workers.”
According to sources, initial information suggests that eight JD(S) MLAs and three BJP MLAs may cross-vote in favor of Congress candidates. However, JD(S) sources claimed that only four JD(S) MLAs were involved in cross-voting and the rest were from BJP. The account of this election is such that JD(S) candidate Govindaraju got only 14 votes and lost, while all five Congress candidates and two BJP candidates were elected.
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