Congress would have won 15-16 LS seats if no tie up with JD(S), says Veerappa Moily
Bengaluru, June 22: Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily Saturday said the party would have won 15 to 16 seats in the Lok Sabha polls had there been no tie up with JD(S) and that trusting the alliance was a 'mistake."
"Hundred per cent...not only here (Chikkaballapur).. in various constituencies...if there was no alliance, 15-16 seats Congress would have definitely got," he said.
Moily was replying to a question on whether he would have won in Chikkaballapur if there had been no alliance.
Speaking to reporters in Chikkaballapur, he said that trusting the coalition was a mistake. "Our people (Congress) also opposed (me).. that is very clear."
Asked about the reasons for those in Congress opposing him, he did not divulge much details, saying it maybe because of power or money.
Moily, a former union minister, was the joint candidate of the ruling Congress-JDS coalition.
He was defeated by BJP's B N Bache Gowda in Chikkaballapur by 1,82,110 votes.
Congress and JD(S) that had faced the polls in alliance managed to win one seat each, while BJP won 25 seats.
The saffron party supported independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh won in Mandya.
Moily said even though he had lost from Chikkaballapur, he still trusted the people of the constituency.
He said he was not sure about contesting an election again, saying he does not have that desire, "but will continue to have the love and trust with the people here."
Indicating that ineffectiveness of the government also led to the disastrous result in the LS polls, Moily said other than saving the government, those in power should also look into the needs of the people, who do not have a good opinion about the administration.
Calling for reorganising Congress from the grassroot level, he said "going with them (JDS) we have seen defeat.
That bitter experience has happened and should not happen again.
We should reorganise our party and we have to face elections," he said.
"...I have not got JD(S). Going to them, talking to them was a waste of time.If I had utilized that time to concentrate on voters, I would have got far more votes," he added.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
