"15 Congress Leaders..." HD Kumaraswamy's Prediction Ahead Of Polls

Taking a jibe at the Congress, Janata Dal Leader HD Kumaraswamy said that as many as 15 leaders from the Congress party will join the JDS in the coming days.

Talking about the leaders who will join JDS, HD Kumaraswamy said, "Former Legislative Council member Raghu Achar from Chitradurga had already spoken and he himself said that he would join the JDS."

Mr Kumaraswamy said, "15 people from the Congress party will join the JDS in the coming days."

"Earlier, Congress took the MLAs to sink the JDS. Now they are coming to JDS from Congress," he added.

Mr Kumaraswamy further stated that the second list of JDS will be released on Monday.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday Former MP and expelled Janata Dal (Secular) leader LR Shivarame joined the BJP in the presence of the party's state chief Nalinkumar Kateel and party national general secretary CT Ravi, in Bengaluru.

In an exclusive interview with ANI after joining the BJP, Mr Shivarame said, "In the next 10 days, many more leaders will be joining the BJP. The people of Karnataka want a double-engine government in the state and the party will form a majority government in Karnataka.

On why he left the JD(S), he said, "I have been in politics for the last 40 years. I started my career with the Youth Congress. But both in the JD(S) and the Congress, leadership couldn't sustain promising, young members. Internal politics and clashes keep on happening regularly. You don't even have the right to express your suggestions openly. That's why I have decided to join the BJP".

Senior JDS leader ATR Ramaswamy also joined the BJP recently.

He said that in some areas, BJP and JDS are strong, while in others, all three parties, including the Congress, are strong.

The Karnataka assembly elections will be held in a single phase on May 10 with the counting of votes scheduled on May 13.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)