Deve Gowda rules out JD(S) merger with BJP

Bengaluru: Rejecting speculation about his party's merger with BJP, former PM H.D. Deve Gowda on Saturday asserted that JD(S) was here to stay and would strive to come to power on its own in the 2023 Assembly polls.

He lambasted the Congress for questioning his secular credentials and blamed it for the collapse of the JDS-Congress government. Breaking his silence on rumours about the merger with the saffron party, which he termed as an "entertainment programme", the JD(S) patriarch said, with his clarification, the speculation should end.

Former prime minister and JD (S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda on Saturday asserted that his party would come to power in the State on its own in 2023 Assembly elections. The veteran leader was reacting to speculation that JD(S) was planning to merge with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). His son and former chief minister H.D. Kumarswamy has already dismissed the reports and remarked that "JD(S) is not stupid enough to commit suicide by merging with BJP".

Speaking to media persons here on Saturday, Mr Deve Gowda said, "I was a former PM. Will I take my own party to somebody else's doorstep? Does this make any sense? Which astrologer made this prophecy? Let's not speak so lightly about a political party. This party can't be so easily removed. It is not just Deve Gowda and his son, there are people to save this party not only during my lifetime, but even after me."

Mr Deve Gowda also lashed out at the Congress for questioning his secular credentials and blamed it for the collapse of the JDS-Congress coalition government.

"I can speak a lot about Congress.." he said, as he noted that he too was a Congressman in the past. Stating that he had not gone to anyone's door asking for his son Kumaraswamy to be made chief minister after the 2018 Assembly polls, he said "I invited all the secular leaders of the country for swearing-in of (Congress-JDS government). Why? To give strength to the Congress that had lost strength in 18-20 states...Who destroyed it?"

"On the issue of removing the Legislative Council Chairman, a former chief minister who is also a senior Congress leader (Siddaramaiah) by taking my name has spoken about testing my secular stand (for supporting BJP's no-confidence motion)." He claimed Chairman K Pratapachandra Shetty was ready to resign, but the Congress to which he belongs was not allowing him, "because they want to test my secular credentials." Gowda accused the Congress of misleading Muslims, and trying to destroy JD(S)'s secular credentials.

"....none of them (Congress leaders) had gone to Godhra (immediately after riots).Will these people save Muslims? They say in Parliament that theirs is soft Hindutva. I don't understand what is soft Hindutva or hard Hindutva."

Mr Deve Gowda's unequivocal statement on Saturday that JD(S) would continue to hold its own, put to rest all speculation of its merger with the ruling BJP. "JD(S) is working towards winning majority seats independently. Let's see what mandate the people are going to give.

We're working towards coming to power on our own," the former PM said. On the political slugfest between Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah, the former PM said he sought putting an end to the "entertainment programme" from the JD(S) side.

"Let them build their party, let us build ours." Gowda has convened a mega meeting of the JD(S) on January 7, 2021, at Palace Grounds in Bengaluru. "Those who are honest will come, those who aren't will go. This meeting will reveal true colours of party leaders," he said. He also said the JD(S) will have a core committee in place with 8-9 leaders and discuss revamping the party after January 15, to strengthen it. "We will build this party. A regional party is necessary for the country."

Recently, Kumaraswamy admitted that JD(S) made a mistake by joining hands with the Congress in 2018. He headed the coalition government, but it did not last more than a year, with several Congress and JD(S) legislators defecting to the BJP. The party's support to farmers' bill moved by BJP government led to rumours that JD(S) was planning to merge with the saffron party to fight the next Assembly elections.