Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar on Monday filed his nomination from Kanakapura constituency in the Ramanagara district for the state assembly polls and said that the party will surpass the 150-seat mark in the 224-member Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
Before filing his nomination, the state Congress president held a roadshow in his constituency, where he is a 7-time MLA, and exuded confidence in forming the government in the state and rooting out corruption. “Guided by the blessing of my people in Karnataka, I filed my nomination today from the Kanakapura constituency. I have full faith in Karnataka, as we are all set to root out corruption and poor governance in the coming few days,” Shivakumar tweeted.
Speaking to the media, Shivakumar welcomed former BJP leader and six-time MLA Jagadish Shettar into Congress and claimed that more MLAs wanted to join the party, but Congress did not have “political space.”
“I don’t know the agenda of the BJP and JDS… I have created hundreds of leaders here… Jagadish Shettar, Laxman Savadi, and others joined our party, and many ministers and MLAs wanted to come, but we did not have political space. We will cross 150 seats, and I am very confident that we will form the government in the state,” he said.
Our target was 150; now, after Shettar’s joining, it’s confirmed that we will reach the target.
“There will be no demands from Jagadish Shettar; we do not offer anything. He will have to agree with the principles and the leadership of the party. We want to keep the country united, and only Congress can do that,” Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar told the media.