JD(S) to suffer setback in up to 25 'winnable seats' due to funds crunch, admits HD Kumaraswamy
Bidadi (K'taka), May 10: JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said that his party is expected to take a "hit" in up to 25 Assembly segments, where it had chances of winning, due to financial crunch, in the Karnataka elections held on Wednesday.
Despite financial constraints, his party will be ahead of Congress and BJP in terms of winning the number of seats, the former Chief Minister claimed, as he asserted that his party will be 'King' and not just the 'King maker'.
"What has pained me is that I have not been able to financially support several of my candidates. My expectation was that I might get public support in terms of funds, I have taken a hit to an extent. At several constituencies which had winnable candidates like in Chikkaballapura and Doddaballapura, I have failed in financially supporting the candidates at the final stages," Kumaraswamy said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said because of shortage of funds, in about 20-25 constituencies where he has expectations of winning, there is a setback.
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"Some constituencies have taken a good sum of money from party funds and in some winnable seats I have not been able to give enough funds and it has caused a hit. I have not been able to support them as per expectation, as the party did not get donations as expected," he said.
Further requesting the party workers not to develop a "wrong impression" on candidates, Kumaraswamy said, "I have let down candidates, it is my mistake. In about 50-60 seats where our candidates were giving a good fight, I have not been able to give funds as per expectations."
Despite all this and amid a sense that this election is "indispensable" for JD(S), he said, "I had expected more than 120 seats..... but we will still be ahead of Congress and BJP, despite financial constraints."
Asked about the scenario of the hung assembly and JD(S)' role then, Kumaraswamy said, "Let's see, I will discuss when such a situation comes."
To a question, will JD(S) emerge as a king maker in this election, he said, "Not only king maker, our party is going to be a king, let us see.
In the previous Assembly elections in 2018, JD(S) won 37 out of the total 224 seats.
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RR beat RCB by six wickets in IPL
Guwahati (PTI): Blistering fifties by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel powered Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL match here on Friday.
Sent in to bat, RCB rode on a fighting half-century by skipper Rajat Patidar (63) to post 201 for 8.
Virat Kohli (32), Romario Shepherd (22) and Venkatesh Iyer (29) also chipped in with useful contributions.
In reply, Sooryavanshi (78 off 26 balls) and Dhruv Jurel (81 not out off 43 balls) shared a 37-ball 108-run partnership for the second wicket to set the platform. Krunal Pandya (2/30) tried to bring them back with back-to-back wickets.
But Jurel, in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (24), completed the task with another 68-run stand, with two overs to spare.
For RR, Jofra Archer (2/33), Ravi Bishnoi (2/32) and Brijesh Sharma (2/37) took two wickets.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 201 for 8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 63; Jofra Archer 2/33, Ravi Bishnoi 2/32, Brijesh Sharma 2/37).
Rajasthan Royals: 202 for 4 in 18 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 78, Dhruv Jurel 80 not out; Krunal Pandya 2/30, Josh Hazlewood 2/44).
