Bengaluru: Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily on Saturday said the party would have won 15 to 16 seats in the Lok Sabha election in the state had there been no tie-up with the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and that trusting the alliance was a 'mistake'.
"Hundred per cent...not only here (Chikkaballapur)... in several other constituencies... if there was no alliance, the Congress would have definitely got 15-16 seats," he said, while replying to a question on whether he would have won in Chikkaballapur had there been no pre-poll deal.
Speaking to reporters in Chikkaballapur, he said that trusting the coalition was a mistake. "Our people (Congress) also opposed (me), that is very clear." Asked about the reasons for those in the Congress opposing him, he did not divulge much details, saying it maybe because of power or money.
Moily, a former Union minister, was the joint candidate of the ruling Congress-JDS coalition. He was defeated by BJP's BN Bache Gowda in Chikkaballapur by 1,82,110 votes.
The Congress and JD(S) that had faced the election in alliance managed to win one seat each, while the BJP won 25 seats. The saffron party supported Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh won in Mandya.
Moily said though he had lost from Chikkaballapur, he still trusted the people of the constituency. He said he was not sure about contesting an election again, saying he did not have that desire, "but will continue to have the love and trust with the people here."
Indicating that ineffectiveness of the government also led to the disastrous result in the LS poll, Moily said other than saving the government, those in power should also look into the needs of the people, who did not have a good opinion about the administration.
Calling for reorganising the Congress from the grassroots level, he said, "We saw defeat after going with the JD-S. That bitter experience has happened and should not happen again. We should reorganise our party and we have to face elections," he said.
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