MYSURU: In chief minister Siddaramaiah's home district – Mysuru on Sunday, the Communist Party of India (CPI) announced that it has joined hands with Congress to defeat BJP in the Karnataka state assembly elections, which is scheduled on May 12.
HR Sheshadri, secretary of CPI's Mysuru District Council told reporters that of the 224 assembly constituencies in the state, CPI will support CPM candidate Sreerama Reddy of Bagepalli constituency, former MLA and farmers leader late CS Puttanaiah's son Darshan Puttanaiah, who is contesting in Melukote constituency from Swaraj India and CPI's two candidates in two constituencies and in the remaining 220 constituencies, CPI will support Congress.
Without disclosing the names, Sheshadri said senior Congress leaders approached CPI seeking for the party's support in the elections, but CPI is voluntarily supporting the Congress in this elections.
“We are supporting Congress in this elections, because prime minister Narendra Modi's government came up with policies which had a bad impact on laborers across the country, particularly in states where BJP is in power, so we decided to support Siddaramaiah's government, which has done good things for the state in the last five years for poor people,” he alleged.
Later Mysuru District Congress Committee's president Vijay Kumar who was accompanying Sheshadri said “Congress and Siddaramaiah has welcomed the support of CPI and leaders of both the parties will start campaigning together. But we are not sure whether the coalition between these two parties will continue after the assembly elections also or not, because that decision will be taken by the high command of the respective two respective parties only after the elections.” “As of now our aim is to work together to defeat the BJP in the state,” he added.