Bangalore, May 25: Congress on Sunday hinted at being
open to doing business with the JD(S) again in Karnataka if
there was a hung verdict in the assembly elections.
"The JD(S) had a nightmarish experience working with
the BJP, but not with the Congress. We also worked with them
for 20 months happily," AICC media department chairman M
Veerappa Moily said.
He was asked whether the Congress would join hands with
Deve Gowda's JDS in Karnataka in the event of the party not
managing to get majority in the 224-member assembly.
"Congress has a culture of coalition. The party has
always stood for stability. You know that the party has made
sacrifices in the past for the sake of stability. The BJP has
a sense of insecurity which we don't have," Moily, also a
former Karnataka Chief Minister, said.
The Congress was part of a coalition government in
Karnataka along with the JD(S) for 20 months following the
2004 elections which threw up a hung assembly.
The Dharam Singh government had collapsed, with the
JD(S) parting ways and aligning with the BJP.
AICC spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said secularism
is a common factor between the Congress and the JD(S), but
added that the Congress high command would take a decision on
the party entering into any alliance in the state.
"Why not?," was her reply when asked if the Congress
was willing to form an alliance with the JD(S), adding this is
something better than having no government.
Natarajan also said that in the event of a post-poll
alliance with the JD(S), the Chief Minister's post should go
to the Congress on account of having larger number of seats.
Bureau Report
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