Karnataka - Bangalore   

JD(S) trains guns on BJP

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Party heads: National and State presidents of the Janata Dal (Secular) H.D. Deve Gowda (right) and N. Merajuddin Patel at the party’s executive committee meeting in Bangalore on Thursday.

Bangalore: Janata Dal (Secular) national president H.D. Deve Gowda and the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Thursday launched a blistering attack against the Bharatiya Janata Party and said the JD(S) would not permit politics to be controlled by religious leaders.

At a meeting organised primarily to explain to partymen what prompted the JD(S) to pull out of the alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party for a second time, Mr. Deve Gowda said “it was possibly the leadership’s Karma” that had prompted the JD(S) to ally with the BJP.

In the run-up to the Assembly elections, the JD(S) would spare no effort in highlighting the “misdeeds and other game plans” of the BJP.

The former Prime Minister and Mr. Kumaraswamy said religious heads should refrain from playing a direct role in politics. “Pressure cannot be exerted on the JD(S). We are not in favour of or against any particular caste as is being made out to be by some Lingayat leaders and Veerashaiva math heads. There are many Lingayat legislators and leaders in the JD(S), and they were given proportional representation in the last Cabinet,” Mr. Kumaraswamy said.

With reference to the accusations levelled against the JD(S) after it pulled out of the alliance with the BJP, Mr. Deve Gowda said, “How can we permit Karnataka to go the Gujarat way? I am proud to say that I was instrumental in closing the gate to prevent the BJP’s entry into south India. Otherwise, Karnataka would have faced the flood.”

Mr. Deve Gowda, who will lead the party’s campaign in the coming elections, said, “I have been accused of pulling down several governments and leaders. Let them say anything, but I will fight to the finish against the BJP.”

Mr. Kumaraswamy said the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, instead of accusing the JD(S), should introspect and thank the JD(S) for enabling him to be Deputy Chief Minister for 20 months. He had also been falsely claiming that he was responsible for the ban on arrack and lotteries, apart from extending farm loans at four per cent interest. “I demanded that all these measures be implemented, failing which I said the JD(S) would prefer elections.”

State party president N. Merajuddin Patel, senior leader D. Manjunath, the former Ministers C. Chennigappa, Iqbal Ansari and D.T. Jayakumar and several leaders from the districts addressed the meeting.

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