Gowda praises and attacks Modi, keeps all guessing

Bengaluru: JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda refused to be pinned down on Wednesday about a post-poll alliance with the BJP despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent comments in his favour.

Mr Gowda, who had earlier said that he would throw his son H.D. Kumaraswamy out of the party if he allied with the BJP, said at an eagerly awaited press meet on Wednesday that he would not reply to hypothetical questions when asked if he would go with the BJP or the Congress in case of a fractured mandate.

The JD(S) patriarch cautioned the media not to read too much into statements that PM Modi made while addressing an election rally in Udupi on Tuesday where he had praised him as a respected politician and slammed Congress leaders for their comments denigrating him and calling his party the “B team” of the BJP.

Speaking at the Bengaluru press meet, Mr Gowda lavished praise and criticism in equal measure on the Prime Minister whom he described as a very intelligent person who always did his homework about what he should say where.

“He (Modi) understands what is happening in Karnataka. He knows exactly what to say in each state he visits. He said he used to come to receive me at my car and then drop me back when I went to visit him. There is nothing special in that and there is no need to take any meaning out of this,” Mr Gowda said.

The JD(S) chief questioned PM Modi’s silence on various issues, including the Mahadayi dispute. “He spoke at a rally in Belagavi. Could he not have spoken at least one word about Mahadayi? Did he speak anything about farmers? No. From this we can understand his character,” he said.

“Four years ago I had said I would resign from Parliament if Mr Modi became Prime Minister. When I met him after he became Prime Minister, I told him I would resign, but he asked me not to care so much about election statements and asked me to stay back as Parliament needed my guidance. However, when I went to him with a plea to intervene in the Mahadayi issue, he just listened and did not utter a word. After that I stopped meeting him,’’ Mr Gowda added.

By remaining non-committal about which way JD(S) may go, Mr Gowda, a wily politician and a veteran of many a battle of ballots, fuelled speculation that an arrangement after the announcement of results of May 12 Assembly polls was still on the cards.

Taking umbrage at Mr Siddaramaiah calling the JD(S) the BJP’s B-team, he claimed that it was the chief minister who wanted to join hands with the BJP in 2004 just to become CM.

“While he was in the JD(S), he even suggested to me that we should join hands with the BJP ‘’ he charged. “But for the last two months he is desperately trying to prove that we are backing the BJP, just to swing the minority votes towards the Congress.”

His anger against the chief minister seemed to be growing as he brought up an incident which still, clearly, rankles. “After I relinquished the chief minister’s office in Karnataka in ‘96, my successor J.H. Patel displayed my photograph in the chief minister’s chamber. Several other chief ministers came and went, but did not touch that photo. Mr Siddaramaiah threw it out.’’

Asked about the progress made on forming the People’s Front, the JD(S) leader said there were two streams of thought — one to keep both the Congress and BJP out of it and another to include the Congress, but keep the BJP away.

“Mr Sitharam Yechury wants to include the Congress in the front, while others have reservations. We will have to wait and watch what happens. I will only be playing an advisory role,’’ he explained.