Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy Sunday said a section of people wanted to "finish him off politically" by defeating his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy in the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency. Reflecting the widening cracks in the ruling coalition, Kumaraswamy said he was relying "only on the JD(S) MLAs, MLCs and the sitting member of parliament L R Shivarame Gowda (in Mandya)."

Speaking to reporters in Udupi, the Chief Minister said he did not depend on the alliance partner, Congress in Mandya. "Some Congress leaders are working and some are not working (in Mandya), but I am not upset with that. There is a section out to finish me off by defeating Nikhil Kumaraswamy. However, they don't have the support of the local people there," Kumaraswamy alleged. He was responsing to a query about the squabbling among coalition partners--JDS and Congress.