BANGALORE: The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President, M. Mallikarjun Kharge, on Saturday ruled out the possibility of midterm elections and declared that the coalition Government will complete its term.

Addressing presspersons here, Mr. Kharge said neither the party high command, the Congress Legislature Party nor him had expressed such an opinion. The General Secretary in-charge of the party affairs in the State, A.K. Antony's decision to allow districts units of the party to have a say in forging alliance with any group is neither an insult to Mr. Singh nor vindication of his stand for not extending the coalition set up to zilla panchayats. Mr. Kharge said there is no difference of opinion in the State unit. He and Mr. Singh have discussed the matter with the high command and it is not right to say that his decision has made him stronger in the party. Thanking the party for appointing leaders such as C.K. Jaffer Sharief, B.K. Hariprasad, G. Parameshwar, K.B. Krishnamurthy, Margaret Alva, Veerappa Moily and Oscar Fernandes to the AICC, he disagreed with the suggestion that induction of so many leaders from backward classes and minority communities is an indication of the high command's desire for midterm elections. The tussle between the Congress and the JD(S) over the issue of extending the alliance to zilla panchayats will not have any impact on the Government, Mr. Kharge said.

He said the local leaders of party have been warned not to have any truck with the BJP. In Tumkur, the Congress may accept the support of three BJP members if they sever their links with that party. He said the party will send observers to all districts to help its local units to forge alliance or reach understanding with groups to assume power in zilla panchayats.

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