NCP will not contest Karnataka polls, throws weight behind Congress

National general secretary of NCP, DP Tripathi, made the announcement on Thursday.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) declared on Thursday that it will not contest the upcoming Karnataka assembly polls. Instead, the Sharad Pawar-led party has announced unconditional support to the Congress in the elections.

The Sharad Pawar-led party has announced unconditional support to the Congress in the elections. (Ht file photo)

National general secretary of NCP, DP Tripathi, made the announcement on Thursday. “The Congress government led by chief minister Siddaramaiah has accomplished a lot during its tenure. Thus, we have taken the conscious decision to give unconditional support to the Congress, to ensure Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) defeat in the polls instead of wasting our strength,” Tripathi said at party headquarters in Mumbai.

The party believes that the Karnataka polls have become the deciding factor for the general elections that will be held next year. “If we (opposition parties) are able to succeed in defeating BJP in Karnataka, which we are confident of, then the ruling party’s defeat in the Lok Sabha is imminent,” said the senior leader.

NCP has also extended its support to three independent candidates.

Karnataka is going to polls on May 12. In the 2013 assembly polls, the Congress had won 122 out of 224 seats. At the time, NCP had contested for six seats, but was unable to secure a single one.

The move gains significance, in light of deliberate attempts made by the NCP and Congress leaderships to put up a united front against the BJP at the national level in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Tripathi said that the polarisation of voters against BJP has already begun in several states.

“In Maharashtra, we are ready to forge an alliance with the Congress. Now it is up to the Congress to decide. I personally believe that the alliance between both the parties need to be announced as early as possible,” Tripathi said.

When asked about the possibility of allying with the Shiv Sena, Tripathi said, “Sena is not a danger to country’s secularism unlike BJP. It (Shiv Sena) is limited to only one state. At this point of time, I can only say that politics is always pregnant with possibilities.”