Janata Dal (Secular) (JD-S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday expressed confidence about his party emerging victorious in the May 12 Karnataka Assembly elections
"Major share of votes will go in our favour, not only among Dalits, we are appreciated among intellectuals too. People in Karnataka have seen what the BJP and Congress did," Kumaraswamy told ANI in an exclusive interview.
"The people are totally disappointed with their work and have decided to vote for us. This is the reason why people want to favour the JDS and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)," Kumaraswamy added.
Rubbishing incumbent Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's remark that the Janata Dal Secular supremo and former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda had suspended him and that he had not left the party voluntarily to join the Congress later, Kumaraswamy said the former was suspended due to his anti-party activities.
"Deve Gowda did not suspend him (Siddaramaiah), he was suspended due to his anti-party activities. As a JD-S leader he used to organise separate meetings with his Congress friends so the party decided to suspend him," Kumaraswamy insisted.
Kumaraswamy's statement came a day after Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati addressed a rally in Karnataka along with H D Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy.
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Mayawati attacked both the BJP and the Congress for ill-treating backward castes and minorities in Karnataka.
The JD-S and the BSP have formed an alliance for the Karnataka polls, with the BSP fielding candidates in 20 seats.
In the 2013 elections, the JD-S won just 40 seats of the 224 it had contested. The BSP contested 175 seats and won none.