Bengaluru: Dismissing suggestions that the JD(S) had indirectly helped the Congress win the bypolls, JD(S) state president H.D. Kumaraswamy however admitted that the presence of his party in the poll fray would have affected the results. ''The BJP would have had a fair chance of winning if JD(S) had fielded its candidate. We have a strong base, especially in Nanjangud,'' he said.
When asked if the party cadre would be affected as it did not contest the bypolls, Mr Kumaraswamy said this election was neither a referendum on anyone’s performance nor an indicator of the likely trends in the general election. "There is no need for the Congress to feel elated nor for the BJP to get depressed. When Mr S.M. Krishna was CM, he had won two by-elections just six months before the general elections. However, in the general elections, the Congress seat tally was reduced from 125 to 65. In Tamil Nadu, former CM Jayalalithaa refused to field candidates for 39 by-elections. During the general elections, she won comfortably. The issues in by-elections and general elections are different," he added.
He also charged that both parties had spent huge money and the government had misused its machinery, which cannot happen in a general election.
