Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramiah has confirmed that the Congress and JD(S) will form a pre-poll alliance for the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking exclusively to Republic TV's Pooja Prasanna in Bengaluru, and with the alliance looking set for a 4-1 win in the five bypoll seats for which counting is underway, Siddaramaiah particularly hailed the margin of his party candidate's lead in Ballari (Lok Sabha seat), calling it unprecedented.

"I would like to wish a Happy Diwali to people of Karnataka", Siddaramaiah said, adding, "The voters and people of constituencies -- they all voted Congress-JD(S). Our candidates have won with big margins -- unprecedented in Ballari".

Siddaramaiah continued, "In Jamakhandi (assembly seat) also, Siddu Nyamagouda never had so much of lead. Reason is that the people of the country are fed up with misrule of Narendra Modi who failed in his promises. Number of time he made a statement "I am chowkidaar". Now he's in league with all the scandals."

Republic TV then asked Siddaramaiah whether there would be a pre-poll alliance between the Congress and JD(S) for the Lok Sabha elections, to which he said:

"JD(S) pre-poll alliance in parliamentary elections will be there."

He declined to divulge details about seat-sharing.

The bypoll wins come as a significant success for the JD(S)-Congress alliance that had come into being shortly after the recent Karnataka assembly elections that had seen the parties finishing the second largest (Congress) and third-largest (JDS) respectively, behind the BJP. However, while BJP's Yeddyurappa was invited by the Governor to form a government, he didn't have the requisite support to form a majority, and after a week-long controversy, with parties sequestering their MLAs in resorts to prevent horse-trading, and developments in New Delhi in the Supreme Court, HD Kumaraswamy of the JD(S), with support from the Congress, formed a government and became chief minister.

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