Bengaluru: The Janata Dal (Secular), which believes the 2018 elections to the state Assembly could be pre-poned by three to six months, has decided to release its first list of candidates by the last week of May or early June

Janata Dal (Secular) MLC, Basavaraj Horatti, told reporters after the party’s core committee meeting in the city that the selection of candidates had already begun and the party was getting the required feedback from each Assembly segment. “The first candidates’ list has been handed over to (party supremo) Mr H D Deve Gowda, who will take the final call and release it. Those who lost by a large margin during the last elections have been left out and those who were actively involved in organising the party in their constituencies have been considered.

A list of 110 such names have been submitted The first list will have around 125 candidates,”' he said, adding that the party would contest all 224 assembly seats.

Mr Horatti reiterated that the party was not interested in a pact with either the Bharatiya Janata Party or the Congress for the elections.

Meanwhile, the core committee has decided to leave it to Chikkanayakanahalli MLA , Suresh Babu to form coordination committees in all the Assembly segments over the next three months. It was also decided to hold three rallies over the next three months in Chitradurga.

‘Only HDK can waive farm loans’
Claiming that only State Janata Dal (Secular) president and former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy could waive off farmers’ loans if the party came to power in the state, party supremo H.D. Deve Gowda appealed to the people to give the JD(S) a clear mandate in 2018. He was addressing the Uppara community conference on Thursday.