Congress to fight K’taka polls solo

Mysuru : Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday clarified that the Congress would not be stitching an alliance with any other party in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections.

“We are a secular party and would not be forming an alliance with any other party,” Siddaramaiah said while interacting with media here.

Siddaramaiah also rebuffed the claims of Janata Dal(S) being a secular party and said “who said JD (S) is a secular party.”

Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister accused the former of failing to fulfill the promises made during the 2014 General elections.

Recalling the prime minister’s assertions on ‘gau hatya’ during his prime ministerial campaign, Siddaramaiah said that the former could have banned cow slaughtering if he wanted to do so, but never did as he was not serious about it.

“The prime minister promised several things for the economy which included bringing back black money, but the hidden agenda of his party overrides his promises,” Siddaramaiah said.

“The ‘bhram’ people had for the prime minister no longer exists; they have now realised that he has cheated,” he added.

He even raised a question on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah’s religious identity and said that “Amit Shah said I (Siddaramaiah) am not a Hindu, but Amit Shah himself is not a Hindu, he is a Jain. He might believe in Hindutva but let him come out and say he is a Hindu and not a Jain.”

Karnataka will go to polls on May 12 to elect its representatives for the 225-member assembly. The results will be out on May 15. (ANI)