JD(S) may back Cong. to keep BJP at bay in civic bodies

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, MAY 6. Though the JD(S) is at daggers drawn with the Congress and fought a stiff battle with it in the first phase of elections to 148 urban local bodies, it is not averse to the idea of extending support to the latter in those local bodies where it had not secured a majority to keep the BJP out of power.

This became clear at a press conference here today by the JD(S) State unit president and former Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Siddaramaiah, who saw nothing wrong in the party extending support to secular parties to keep communal parties from coming to power. He said his party was as opposed to the Congress as it was to the BJP, but the BJP had to be kept at bay as a communal party was more dangerous than the Congress.

He ridiculed the claim of the Congress that it had fashioned a spectacular victory in the elections and its description of the verdict as a referendum on the Government's performance as the issues in these elections were mainly local.

Victory also depended on the `strength' of candidates.

Moreover, the Congress could not take credit for its performance since gaining a majority in 68 of the 148 local bodies after all sorts of `manoeuvres, malpractice, misuse of official machinery and use of muscle power' was not worth speaking about. Its claim that it would sweep the polls had been shattered.

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Section  : Southern States
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