Karnataka: Congress, JD(S) to fight 2019 Lok Sabha elections together
Bengaluru, Jun 1 (IBNS): Drawing inspiration from the recent successes of a united Opposition in Uttar Pradesh by-polls, the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) have decided to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections together, media reports said.
Though the Congress and the JD(S) fought the recently concluded Karnataka assembly elections separately, they stitched a post-poll alliance to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which emerged as the single largest outfit, away from power.
In recent times, the BJP was defeated by a collective opposition in three Lok Sabha and one assembly seats, where by-polls were held.
The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD)-backed by the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress- defeated the BJP in Kairana Lok Sabha by-polls on Thursday.
Upsetting the saffron outfit, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's SP clinched a win in UP's Noorpur assembly by-election.
In early 2018, the SP with the support of the Congress and the BSP snatched Gorakhpur and Phulpur parliamentary constituencies, which were the strongholds of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya respectively, where by-polls were held.
Prior to Friday's announcement, the Congress and the JD(S) together formed the Karnataka government with the support of 117 MLAs.
With the Congress' support, JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy sworn-in as the new Karnataka Chief Minister.
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