No coalition with BJP, Cong: Kumaraswamy

Former karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal Secular legislature party leader H D Kumaraswamy on Friday...

Former karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal Secular legislature party leader H D Kumaraswamy on Friday said he preferred polls for his party over any immediate experiment to form coalitions with the BJP or the Congress.

8220;There are three options before us 8212; one, to ally with the Congress again and get kicked; second, to revive ties with BJP and get kicked; third, go before the people. If they bless us it is okay, but even if they kick us, we will accept. I prefer the last option,8221; he said.

Kumaraswamy admitted that the BJP and the Congress were making attempts to form a Government to fill the vacuum left behind by his resignation and subsequent imposition of President8217;s Rule. He said the JDS would hold a two-day meeting of its legislature party from October 15 to devise a strategy to keep the BJP and the Congress from preying on his MLAs.

The former CM blamed divisions within the BJP and indifference to its chief ministerial candidate B S Yediyurappa as reasons for the failure of power transfer from the JDS to the BJP as was scheduled at the end of his 20-month tenure. 8220;I am ready for a public debate with BJP leaders on the power transfer issue. I have not betrayed that party,8221; Kumaraswamy said, referring to the statewide 8216;punish the betrayers8217; campaign kicked off by the BJP since the power transfer fell through this week.

8220;We will also go before the people and tell them about the conspiracy hatched by BJP leaders to stall power transfer and prevent Yediyurappa from becoming the CM,8221; he said.

Kumaraswamy said BJP central leaders conspired to block the power transfer to show him up as an anti-Lingayat. He claimed that Yashwant Sinha did not discuss the power transfer issue with his father, but sought JDS support for the NDA and L K Advani8217;s candidature for PM.

Incidentally, when the power transfer issue was raging, sources had said that Gowda had made the offer to support the NDA in case of a general election in return for Kumaraswamy8217;s continuance as Chief Minister.