LS polls: JDS-Cong could have done better had there been better coordination

Bengaluru: Amid speculations over the longevity of the ruling coalition in the state, state Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao on Saturday said the government would continue and conceded his party and JDS could have performed better in Lok Sabha polls had there been better coordination.

“The collective decision of our party is that we need to protect this government and need to work more effectively to give good governance to the people of the state. This government will continue,” he told reporters.

Rao conceded the coalition partners could have performed better had there been better coordination between them in the polls, which saw BJP decimate the ruling combine, winning 25 of the 28 seats in the state.

The coalition partners, who went to the polls together and fought in all the 28 seats, could win only one seat each — Bengaluru Rural and Hassan.

In rest of the places, their candidates, including former prime minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda, lost terribly.

Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh, supported by BJP, won in Mandya defeating chief minister H D Kumaraswamy’s son and Gowda’s grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy.

Rao said the two parties had the chance to perform better.

“We could have expected better results if both of us (Congress and the JD-S) had coordinated better. We, however, cannot say that we would have won in a big way,” he said.

Underlining that the election was a warning for the two parties, Rao said a decision was taken in a meeting between Congress and JD(S) that there was a need to strengthen the bonding between them, coordinate better and overcome the shortcomings.

Rao added that both the parties decided to protect the government.

“The collective decision of our party is that we need to protect this government and need to work more effectively to give good governance to the people of the state. This government will continue,” the KPCC chief said.

Dismissing talks about his resignation in the wake of the drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls, Rao said he will continue as the state party chief but took the moral responsibility for the rout.

“As Karnataka Congress president I own moral responsibility and rest of the issues I have conveyed to the party president,” he said on his future course of action.

He also said the Congress legislature party meeting would be held on May 29.