President's rule far-fetched imagination of Cong: Kumaraswamy

Bangalore, Nov 29 (UNI) The situation in Karnataka did not warrant imposition of President's rule as perceived by the Opposition Congress, state Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said today.

Sharply reacting to the remarks of former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly N Dharam Singh that the state might go in for President's rule after the December four Chamundeshwari by-election, he said the Congress leaders were making such statements only to confuse the voters.

To a question, Mr Kumaraswamy said he never supported the incident in which JD(U) candidate A S Gurusamy was prevented from taking up campaigning in some villages and blamed the media for the ''twisted'' reports to this effect.

Taking strong exception to Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President Mallikarjuna Kharge's suggestion to withdraw from campaign for holding free and fair election, he challenged the Congress leader to contest polls as a non-Congress candidate outside his constituency. ''I am also ready to contest in any constituency outside my Ramanagaram Assembly seat,''he said.

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