Bangalore: Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday accused the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of hatching a conspiracy against his party.

After launching the party’s election campaign in the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha constituency, where it has fielded Prabhakara Reddy, Mr. Kumaraswamy attributed the party’s defeat in the recent byelection in the constituency to the “worst ever political strategy employed by the Congress and the BJP.” He alleged that the BJP, while promising to support the JD(S), discreetly worked for the Congress candidate’s victory in the byelection.

The Congress was employing a similar strategy in the Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency now, he said. In a bid to defeat JD(S) candidate Geetha Shivarajkumar, the Congress was planning to field her brother Kumar Bangarappa against her, he claimed.

“The Congress and the BJP are trying every trick in the book to finish the JD(S),” he said.