Bengaluru: Senior JD(S) leader and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda has called upon all the regional parties and secular parties to join hands with the Congress and work in tandem to take on the BJP.

Noting that mere speeches would not help, he said the regional and secular parties should enhance their strength politically in the country.

"We all need to join together with Congress and work in tandem with the available strength only then will we be able to stop them (the BJP)," the JD(S) supremo said at a public meeting organised by the party in Hassan district on Saturday.

Gowda cautioned the regional and secular parties against sitting idle watching the developments in the country.

"If the small and regional parties do not exercise the powers given by Dr B R Ambedkar to the country, they (BJP) are going to the extent of finishing them up," he said.

Interestingly, the JD(S) patriarch, had in the run-up to the December bypolls to Karnataka assembly said he would not align with the Congress and dubbed it as "not trustworthy."

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Bengaluru (PTI): Bringing much relief to the people battered by the scorching summer, heavy rains coupled with hailstorm lashed the city on Wednesday.

The thunderous downpour with stormy wind cooled the city, where the temperature had soared to 37 degree.

With the rains, the city, from being parched, witnessed waterlogging in just two hours.

There was waist-deep water in many areas in the city such as Richmond Town and Shanthinagar resembling a river.

The unexpected rain did not spare Vidhana Soudha, the seat of power, as water gushed inside the government offices from the lobby. The office of the Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka was also flooded.

Since the downpour occurred in the evening, many office goers struggled to return home.

Uprooting of trees was reported in many parts of the city, including Malleswaram, Shanthinagar and Seshadripuram.