No question of withdrawing candidate: HDK

‎Bengaluru:‎‎ There is no question of withdrawing the JDS candidate from the Rajya Sabha polls, said JDS leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday.‎

‎He was speaking to reporters at JP Nagar after attending the naming ceremony of his grandson.

Reacting to Siddaramaiah asking the JDS to withdraw the nomination of its candidate Kupendra Reddy, Kumaraswamy said the party does not bow to external pressure or oppression. “Do we have to accept what the Congress has said? We have 32 MLAs while Congress has only 25. Everyone knows who has more votes. Is it right for us (JDS) to bow down to their (Congress’s) oppression?” he asked.‎

On Siddaramaiah’s claim that the Congress announced its candidate first, Kumaraswamy retorted saying, “Did the Congress consult with JDS before announcing the candidate?” Further, he lamented that Congress leaders did not inform JDS despite CM Ibrahim being a close friend.