M.A. Gafoor, secretary of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), said on Thursday that the poor performanc of the Congress in the parliamentary elections in the State was solely owing to its tie-up with the Janata Dal (Secular).
Speaking to presspersons at the media centre, Mr. Gafoor said that the Congress workers had opposed such a tie-up. They had even suggested that both the Congress and JD(S) could put up their candidates in all the parliamentary constituencies and there could be a “friendly fight.” But the tie-up and then the Congress giving up the seats where it had a strong presence was a wrong strategy, he said.
“But we accept the verdict of the people with all humility. We had not anticipated such a big win by the BJP. We congratulate the BJP for its victory,” he said.
Mr. Gafoor said that the Congress will introspect on the parliamentary results in the State. “We will see where we were weak and try to strengthen our party,” he said.
To a query, Mr. Gafoor said that while he was against the Congress-JD(S) tie-up, he was not against the coalition government led by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy. “Let the coalition government continue,” he said.