Minorities were misguided against JDS in LS polls: Kumaraswamy

Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Friday said the Muslim voters were influenced to vote against his party -- Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) -- by the BJP in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. "The election is now over. The reason for the BJP winning 25 Lok Sabha seats in the election was that minorities were misguided. It was said that if you voted for the JDS, we will join the BJP," he said, while addressing a public meeting.

"They moblilised several people including retired government officials to spread these rumours. Due to this, maybe Muslim voters were influenced to vote against me," he added. While JDS retained only one seat, the BJP put up a stellar performance in the Lok Sabha polls held in Karnataka by winning 25 out of 28 seats that went to polls in the state. Numerically, this is one of the biggest victories for the BJP in a southern state.