Don\'t know when bypolls will be ordered, need to be prepared: Deve Gowda

Bengaluru: Even before the official announcement of Karnataka bypolls, the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) have started the groundwork for the elections, reported News18.

During a party meeting, JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda on Wednesday said, “The announcement of elections is not in our hands. These two national leaders — (Narendra) Modi and (Amit) Shah — you don’t know what they are going to decide and when. So we need to be prepared.”

“I have kept a watch on everything since we lost power. I am not going to blame anyone. Mistake could be ours too. Many, including myself, have lost the elections. The party needs to be rebuilt. Will not question who has stayed (in the party) and who’s left. The candidates will be announced based on the suggestions of people of the respective constituencies,” he added.

In the recent Lok Sabha elections, the party gave three tickets to members of the Gowda family. However, Gowda, his grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy and 24 other Congress-JD(S) coalition candidates lost from their parliamentary seats in the state.

On July 23, the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government lost the trust vote in the Assembly after 17 rebel MLAs from the two parties put in their papers.

This cleared the decks for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the government with BS Yediyurappa as the Chief Minister. Other ministers of the cabinet are yet to be appointed.

Meanwhile, Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and Dinesh Gundu Rao have also been meeting party workers from constituencies that are expected to go for bypolls due to the disqualification of the 17 rebel MLAs.