National parties depute leaders to Karnataka

BENGALURU: With various exit polls predicting a hung assembly in Karnataka, the three main political parties in contention are preparing for the worst ahead of the election results on Tuesday.

Congress veterans Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ashok Gehlot are in town to manage any post-poll alliances that may be needed in the case of a fractured verdict, according to party sources.

Azad and Gehlot are close to former PM and JDS chief HD Deve Gowda and will likely hold talks with him for an alliance, these people said. BJP, too, is likely to woo JDS, a former ally in the state before they had a bitter fallout.


BJP will depute Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Prakash Javadekar and party general secretary Muralidhar Rao, the party in-charge for Karnataka, to Bengaluru on Tuesday, party sources said. The election in Karnataka is crucial for all the three parties.