BENGALURU: Alleging a sinister design to finish off JD(S) in Karnataka, president of the state unit of the party, H D Kumaraswamy, said such efforts proved unsuccessful in the past as the party had a strong support base in rural areas.
Addressing a meeting of office-bearers, legislators and other leaders ahead of forthcoming zilla and taluk panchayat polls here on Saturday, he said the party has still deep roots in rural areas, and this factor must be leveraged during elections to these local bodies.
Recent defeats in elections were a temporary setback, and the party would bounce back in forthcoming polls.
Mr Kumaraswamy said overconfidence cost the party a lot in previous elections. Local leaders had the capacity to wrest power in at least 10-12 zilla panchayats if they worked as a united team.
On their part, legislators should strive to open accounts in districts where the party was not strong. Those who strive hard to ensure victory of party candidates would be considered during selection of candidates for polls to the Legislative Assembly in 2018.Assembly polls.
In his address, party president H D Deve Gowda said his sole wish before his death was to install a JD (S) government in the state.
He had been suffering all these years with the sole intention of having his own party ruling the state. “Our aim should be to win maximum number of zilla panchayats in order to teach a lesson to Congress and BJP,” he added.
Almost all MLAs and MLC, including disgruntled leaders like Cheluvarayaswamy, Zameer Ahmed Khan, and Balakrishna participated in the meeting.
