Mumbai: The Congress-JD(S) combine victory in the Karnataka bypolls has buoyed the hopes of Congress with the senior party leader Prithviraj Chavan saying that the alliance with secular parties can defeat the BJP.
The candidates of Karna-taka’s ruling JD(S)-Congr-ess emphatically won both the Assembly constituencies and two of the three Lok Sabha seats in the bitterly fought by-polls held on Saturday.
The results show that if like-minded parties come together, they can pose a challenge to the BJP and defeat them, said Mr Chavan.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi also expressed joy over party’s impressive show in the polls. “Congratulations to all the workers & leaders of the Congress par-ty in Karnataka on the decisive victory of the Congress-JD(S) alliance in the By-Polls in the state. I thank each & every one of you, for your dedication & hard work that made this victory possible,” he tweeted.
Senior Congress leader and former Union minister P. Chidambaram likened the victory to a cricket victory. In a tweet, he said a 4-1 result in Karnataka “looks like a Test series win under Virat Kohli”. The Congress-JD(S) coalition has delivered, he said.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said his party and the other progressive and pluralistic forces had “vanquished” the BJP in the last 10 bypolls in the country. “Today, the news from Karnataka is extremely encouraging... This is indicative of the changed mood in the country,” Mr Tewari said.
The by-election results have come as a major setback for the main opposition BJP ahead of the 2019 elections with the party losing the Ballari Lok Sabha seat, considered a stronghold of the controversial mining barons — the Reddy brothers.
