Not aligning with either NDA or UPA: Deve Gowda puts speculation to rest

BENGALURU: Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) patriarch H D Deve Gowda on Friday sought to put at rest all speculation about his party aligning with the BJP stating that the JD(S) is neither with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nor with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

“All the 19 MLAs and seven MLCs of our party have unitedly taken a decision on how to save our regional party after detailed discussions. There’s the NDA on one hand and the UPA on the other. We discussed on what path we should take and I have shared my political experience with them. A committee will be formed under legislature party leader H D Kumaraswamy and I will give my suggestions from time to time”, the senior leader said.

Further, he said, “I have experience in national as well as state politics and I am ready to share my experiences and suggestions. For the people of the state, and for the injustice we have suffered, we have to save the party and we will take it before the people in the interest of maintaining Karnataka’s glory and development. We will prove that our party has the strength to highlight the injustice done to the state. This is not political posturing or for political gain. I have fought all through my life. We will continue our struggle independently”, he said.

JD(S) legislature party leader H D Kumaraswamy took part in a BJP protest after Assembly Speaker U T Khader suspended 10 BJP MLAs for the rest of the session.

It is said that some of the JD(S) legislators had raised objection to aligining with the BJP, stating that Deve Gowda’s secular image would take a hit. They had also expressed concern that it would strengthen the Congress allegation that the JD(S) was a B-team of the BJP and that the Congress could use it to cause damage to the party in the elections.

The legislators had also highlighted that the JD(S) and BJP are rivals in many constituencies and questioned what would be the fate of the party and the constituency if it aligned with the latter. In the Assembly election held in May, the BJP had dealt a blow to the JD(S) in the Old Mysuru region and JD(S) workers would be demoralised if the parties align, the lawmakers had highlighted.