Cong prepares for assembly bypolls

Bengaluru: The Congress in Karnataka on Thursday decided to prepare the party for by-elections to 17 constituencies, necessitated by the disqualification of rebel legislators, by sending in teams headed by party leaders as in-charge for each constituency.

The party at a meeting of its top leaders here also decided to face the legal battle against disqualified MLAs in the Supreme Court, but remained non-committal on the continuity of its alliance with JD(S), putting the onus on the Congress high command.

"There will be by-elections for 17 constituencies, a sMLAs from there have been disqualified, so we have discussed our strategy, how to face it- we have gathered opinion of our leaders," Pradesh Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao told reporters after the meeting.