Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday said that many leaders will join JDS on Friday, as reported by the news agency ANI. BJP leader Doddappa Gowda Patil Naribol's name is final, he added. He also said that the party is keen to win 30-40 seats in Uttara Karnataka.
"Many leaders will join JD(S) tomorrow. (BJP leader) Doddappa Gowda Patil Naribol's name is final. We are keen to win 30 to 40 seats in Uttara Karnataka. I will release the second list of candidates tomorrow," Kumaraswamy said as quoted by ANI.
Last week, Kumaraswamy took a jibe at the Congress and said that as many as 15 leaders from the Congress party will join the JDS in the coming days.
Talking about the leaders who will join JDS, HD Kumaraswamy said, "Former Legislative Council member Raghu Achar from Chitradurga had already spoken and he himself said that he would join the JDS." Swamy said, "15 people from the Congress party will join the JDS in the coming days," as quoted by ANI.
"Earlier, Congress took the MLAs to sink the JDS. Now they are coming to JDS from Congress," he added. Kumaraswamy further also stated that the second list of JDS will be released on Monday. Meanwhile, on Wednesday Former MP and expelled Janata Dal (Secular) leader LR Shivarame joined the BJP in the presence of the party's state chief Nalinkumar Kateel and party national general secretary CT Ravi, in Bengaluru.
In an exclusive interview with ANI after joining the BJP, Shivarame said, "In the next 10 days, many more leaders will be joining the BJP. The people of Karnataka want a double-engine government in the state and the party will form a majority government in Karnataka. The Karnataka assembly elections will be held in a single phase on May 10 with the counting of votes scheduled on May 13.