Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge seeks JD(S) support to stake claim in KCC Council

KALABURAGI: Leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha and senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge reached out to the JD(S) leadership to secure the support of the party’s four corporators to stake claim to power in the Kalaburagi City Corporation (KCC) Council.
The BJP, however, has already spoken to the senior leaders of the JD(S), including the party’s state minority wing leader Nasir Hussain.
The JD(S) corporators elected to the KCC Council have made it clear that they will offer their support only to the party that will offer them the mayor’s post.
Nasir Hussain said that, while his party was open to an alliance with both the Congress and the JD(S), nobody from the Congress had spoken to the leadership of the regional party.
“No leader of the Karnataka Congress spoke to the JD(S) leadership till veteran leader Kharge reached out to us. Former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy has made it clear the JD(S) corporators will extend support only to the party that offers the mayor’s seat, and that is our final decision. It is not enough for the Congress to merely claim it is a secular party. The JD(S) will be the deciding factor in the KCC Council,” Nasir Hussain added.