Siddaramaiah

GULBARGA: The former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said he joined the Congress to strengthen secular forces and curb the growing influence of communal forces headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in State and national politics.

Replying to a rousing reception accorded to him by Congress leaders and workers on his first visit to Gulbarga on Thursday after joining the party, Mr. Siddaramaiah said many senior Congress leaders had been in touch with him from the day he was suspended from the Janata Dal (S) and removed from the post of Deputy Chief Minister.

He finally chose to accede to their request after All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi talked to him and invited him to join the party to strengthen secular forces.

Launching an attack on his erstwhile friend and close ally, the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, for sacrificing secular ideals to get his son, H.D. Kumaraswamy, the post of Chief Minister and allowing the BJP to get a foothold in the State, Mr. Siddaramaiah said Mr. Deve Gowda was a "self-centred" politician.

Mr. Siddaramaiah said Mr. Deve Gowda would do anything to protect the interests of his family, and this was exhibited in the manner in which he ensured the fall of the Congress-led coalition Government.

He said the coalition arrangement between the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) had been only a temporary measure. The aim of Mr. Deve Gowda was to see his son become the Chief Minister. When Mr. Deve Gowda's attempts to browbeat the Congress to accept Mr. Kumaraswamy as the Chief Minister failed, he ditched it and prodded his son to align with the BJP to form an alternative government.

`Back stabbing'

Mr. Siddaramaiah said he had broken his allegiance with the Janata Parivar and abandoned his anti-Congress stance only due to the "back stabbing" by Mr. Deve Gowda who saw in him a hurdle in achieving his objective.

He first removed him from the post of Deputy Chief Minister on a flimsy reason and later played the dubious game of withdrawing support to the Dharam Singh Government. "Like me, Mr. Dharam Singh is one of the victims of the devious political game played by Mr. Deve Gowda," he said.

He said Mr. Deve Gowda by allowing his son to align with the BJP had entered into a dangerous trap. The BJP would not only stand to gain by enjoying political power and getting to broaden its base but would also ensure the marginalisation of the Janata Dal (S), he said.

Mr. Siddaramaiah said his decision to join the Congress and merge the All India Progressive Janata Dal with that party was to arrest the influence of the BJP and defeat the "self-centred" politics of Mr. Deve Gowda.

Criticising the BJP leadership for continuing to share power with the Chief Minister who was facing corruption charges levelled by its MLC, he said, "The BJP is only interested in grabbing power rather than in value-based politics."

The BJP had mortgaged its policies and principles to share power with corrupt political forces, he said.

Earlier, Mr. Siddaramaiah was honoured at the party workers meeting by senior party leaders, including Gulbarga MP Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi, the former Ministers Qamar-ul-Islam, Basavaraj Rayareddy, Malikayya Guttedar and Baburao Chinchansur and District Congress Committee president Siddaram Iyreddy.

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