New Delhi: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister M Veerappa Moily on Monday said the Congress Party`s victory in the recent by-polls in Karnataka`s Mandya and Rural Bangalore constituencies is a clear indicator of the UPA returning to power at the Centre for a third consecutive five-year term.
He said the result was a clear rejection of the Janata Dal- Secular (JD-S) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"This is a tremendous victory. This is an indication that the people of Karnataka did not tolerate, that means they don`t want JD-S and they don`t want BJP. This is a rejection of both the parties. This is a very clear indication because in Mandya we (Congress) were not that comfortable," he told media here today.
"This has also demonstrated the fact that the march of Modi is just in the back burner, it will not result into any brightening side not only in Karnataka but the rest of the country. It is a clear signal as our Prime Minister and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi have said that in 2014 it will be the Congress victory again and UPA III will be back," he added.
The Congress on Saturday won both the Mandya and rural Bangalore seats by heavy margins, defeating their rival Janata Dal Secular (JD-S) in their stronghold.
The Congress Party candidates surged ahead of their rival Janta Dal Secular (JD-S) in Mandya and Bangalore rural Lok Sabha constituencies in the August 21 by-polls.
According to reports, actress and Congress candidate Ramya was ahead of her opponent CS Puttaraju by over 12,000 votes while her party colleague DK Suresh in rural Bangalore had established a lead of over 18,000 votes against JDS` Anita Kumaraswamy, wife of former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, in the third round.
The Congress had swept to power in the May Assembly polls and JDS had fought a bitter battle.
Reports state that BJP had backed JDS candidates in the two segments, where by-poll was necessitated following the resignation of N Cheluvarayaswamy (Mandya) and Kumaraswamy (Bangalore Rural) who quit after being elected to the Assembly in May.
Mandya is a bastion of JDS, which won five of the eight Assembly seats in the district in the May elections.
ANI
