From Our Special Correspondent

Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Oct 25: Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, while criticizing JD(S)'s alliance with BJP, questioned the party's ability to treat the alliance differently for Karnataka and Kerala.

Speaking to the media at the KPCC office during the admission of several BJP leaders from Shivamogga, Tumkuru, and other places in Bengaluru on Wednesday, Shivakumar ridiculed JD(S) State President H D Kumaraswamy's statement that his party's alliance with BJP is "confined only to Karnataka" for the Lok Sabha polls. He wanted to know how JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda would handle this peculiar formulation.

As former Congress leader C M Ibrahim, who left the party to join JD(S) and was made its State President, was ousted from the post for opposing the JD(S)-BJP alliance, the Deputy Chief Minister mentioned that several prominent JD(S) leaders from Karnataka, Kerala, and other states were joining Congress or other parties in the Indian opposition combine.

Shivakumar urged all party members, including its leaders, to set a target for themselves to induct at least ten prominent individuals from other parties into Congress to strengthen the organization for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The Deputy Chief Minister stated that the five guarantees implemented by the Congress government have enhanced the party's image. Thousands of women have been visiting Mysuru and other places, thanks to the Shakti free bus travel guarantee. "We have proven all skeptics wrong who said the guarantees would bankrupt the state," he added.

Several leaders from BJP and JD(S), including Shrikant and Mohammed Shafi, were admitted into the party.