Siddaramaiah holds meeting with Cong workers from Varuna

Bengaluru: Senior Congress leader Siddaramiah Wednesday held a meeting with party workers in Mysuru as part of efforts aimed at strengthening the party.

Those who attended the meeting were from Varuna assembly constituency, won by Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra in the 2018 elections, party sources said.

Sources close to Siddaramaiah told PTI that the meeting Wednesday was aimed at strengthening the party base and carry out development works beneficial to people.

Siddaramaiah told the workers they should “always be battle ready”, they added.

A week ago, Siddaramaiah had camped in his assembly constituency Badami and held a series of meetings with the party workers as well as public.

Incidentally, JDS, heading the coalition government with the Congress in the state, leaders, including its patriarch H D Deve Gowda, have also been holding series of meetings with party workers with the thrust on strengthening the party.

The meetings come in the backdrop of dismal performance by the Congress and JDS in the Lok Sabha elections with both managing to win only one seat each out of the 28 seats.

Commenting on the meetings, BJP general secretary and MLC N Ravi Kumar claimed it indicated the two parties might be anticipating mid-term elections to the assembly.

“It reflects on the absolute lack of trust between the two coalition partners Congress and the JD(S), he told PTI.

He, however, added the mandate in the assembly elecction was to the BJP and it would not allow early polls.

Amid the fresh crisis triggered by resignation of two Congress MLAs, the BJP has said the government might fall under its own weight and it would come to power.

Reflecting on signs of unease between the coalition partners post-Lok Sabha polls, Deve Gowda had recently said there would be mid-term polls to the state assembly.

But retracting his comments, the JDS leader had said he was only referring to the Grama Panchayat and local body elections.