‘Won’t ally with any party even if there is hung assembly’

The allegation is that I pressured local authorities to ensure licence was granted.

But the Lokayukta won around six by-elections. But in the assembly elections the results in those seats were different.

You have said the JD(S) will contest all 224 seats. How many seats are you hoping to win?

I will be ahead of the two national parties. My aim is to get at least 113 seats, the simple majority mark. I have made a set of promises to the people of the state, and I will not be able to fulfil these in another coalition government. Mark my words, the incumbent Congress will be relegated to the third place.

There is rising communal tension in coastal Karnataka. How do you propose to tackle this?

Historically, it is true that our party has been weak in this region. For a long time now, the BJP and Congress have both planned to divide the area. They never speak about development there. Any communal incident in that area benefits both parties. They generate fear and this has helped them systematically.

Recent reports have hinted at an understanding between you and energy minister DK Shivakumar in the Mysuru region...

These are baseless rumours. There is no question of an alliance with the Congress because wherever we are strongest our contest is with the Congress.

What will be your message to the voters in these polls?

This state has seen 10 years of misrule by the BJP and the Congress. So the people of the state are willing to look at a third alternative. If not for anything else, they can vote for us because it cannot get any worse than the Congress and BJP's misrule.

Four people, including a minor girl, died when a closed coal mine caved in in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul district, nearly 178km south east of Bhopal, on Sunday.

The deceased were identified as Seelu Chorsey, 45; Meena Borsey, 35; Nani Bai, 30; and Payal, 11 — all residents of Kalimai area.

Betul sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) SK Bhandari said some local women were extracting coal illegally from Satpuda 2 coal mine of Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL) when it caved in. “The accident spot is the area where coal was dumped. The women were extracting coal illegally when the mine caved in,” he said.

Locals from the area rushed to help the victims trapped under the debris. An injured woman identified as 35-year-old Sandhya was taken to hospital for treatment. Search is on to ascertain if more people are trapped under the debris.

Superintendent of police, Betul, DR Teniwar said an investigation was underway.

This is not the first such incident in the state.

In 2012, six people were killed when an illegal coal mine caved in at Bargawan area in Singrauli district. In 2016, two people died in a coal mine roof collapse in Umaria district.

CONFIDENT Former chief minister denies Modi wave in Karnataka BENGALURU: BHOPAL: