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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Bengaluru: Scrap worker held for UPS battery thefts; 51 batteries recovered
Bengaluru: A 38-year-old scrap worker accused of stealing UPS batteries has been arrested by the Parappana Agrahara police for targeting roadside power backup units in Electronic City.
According to The Indian Express, the accused has been identified as Chinnadurai (38), a native of Tamil Nadu. He was apprehended on March 9 from a scrap shop in Vaddarapalya on Koppa Begur Main Road following a tip-off.
Police said the accused targeted roadside power backup units installed for CCTV cameras, streetlights, and traffic signals, disrupting public infrastructure, particularly in Electronic City Phase-2 and Shanthipura Main Road.
The case was originally registered on February 5 after a private company reported the theft of 10 UPS batteries from roadside locations.
During interrogation, Chinnadurai reportedly confessed to carrying out the thefts as a source of livelihood and admitted to similar offences across the city.
The police recovered 51 UPS batteries of various companies and seized an autorickshaw used in the crimes. The total value of the recovered property is estimated at Rs 4 lakh.
“With his arrest, we have detected this case and also solved two other theft cases registered against him in different police stations across the city,” a police officer said.
As per the report, the accused was produced before a court on March 10 and remanded to judicial custody.
The thefts had earlier led to traffic signals going non-functional in Electronic City, raising safety concerns among commuters.
