HD Kumaraswamy on JD(S)-BJP merger speculation

HD Kumaraswamy also discusses Deve Gowda’s political journey (File)

Amid speculations about Janata Dal-Secular’s merger with the BJP, former Karnataka chief minister and JDS-BJP candidate HD Kumaraswamy on Saturday said that if all goes well, there is no question of JDS being absorbed by the BJP, They will work together.

HD Kumaraswamy in an exclusive interview to ANI said, “There is no question of merging our party with any other party. I tell you this clearly. There is no doubt about it. If the BJP treats us well and everything goes well, then There is no doubt that JDS will be absorbed by the BJP and we will work together.”

“I want to tell Siddaramaiah that even if 100 Siddaramaiahs come against us, they cannot do anything against our party. They cannot destroy our party,” he said.

Back in 2006, HD Kumaraswamy defected and quit the JD(S)-Congress alliance along with 42 MLAs, reportedly against the wishes of his father, former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda , citing threats and forming the government with the BJP.

He was asked whether the invitation to Deve Gowda for the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony could be seen as a personal link between Prime Minister Modi and Deva Gowda, leading to the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party-JD (S) ALLIANCE. Elaborating on the dynamics between Prime Minister Modi and Deve Gowda, HD Kumaraswamy said, “When Narendra Modi entered national politics, Deve Gowda was one of the leading critics of Prime Minister Modi’s entry into national politics. Then, whatever he said then, after Modi became Prime Minister, he went to meet Dev Gowda Ji and wanted to resign from his MP constituency, but Narendra Modi told him that his advice was needed and he had to remain in the Assembly , such is the respect shown by the Prime Minister, they have met many times after becoming Prime Minister and each time the Prime Minister showed respect to Deve Gowda Ji and sought his advice.”

He also discusses Dev Gowda’s political journey. “In 2018, Dev Gowdaji joined hands with the Congress. Throughout his career of 60-62 years, he has always been aligned with secular forces. Congress destroyed multiple regional parties by leveraging regional parties. Congress humiliated in many ways Dev Gowdaji.

“In 1995, when this United Front supported Deve Gowda Ji as the prime ministerial candidate, they (Congress) did not. When they removed him, they had no reason at all. Even then, he Backing Inder Kumar Gujral, they dumped Deve Gowda Ji again in 2004, when he also respected Congress, although Arun Jaitley Arun Jaitley joined hands with the BJP when he too refused to join the Congress and he observed how they treated him for 20 months and even then Deve Gowda Ji’s health deteriorated. It got worse,” he added.

“Then, in 2009, he joined hands with the Third Front. That was another issue. Then, even then, after Dev Goddaji handed over power to the BJP again, his Congress friends wanted to split Even after this, they are trying to destroy our party but Devi Gowda Ji is still only joining hands with the Congress.”

Asked why his party did this, he said he made some bad decisions by trusting his friends in Congress. “I am completely against the Congress. I know how they will treat us and I know how they will treat me as chief minister.”

Hitting back at the Congress party’s remarks slamming the JD (S) for joining hands with the NDA and arguing that the party should write to the Election Commission and remove the word ‘Secular’ from the party’s name, HD Kumaraswamy said: ‘What?’ Secular? What is the meaning of ism? I would like to question the fact that the Congress party is abusing caste composition on a daily basis and they want to benefit from it for their own party. “

“In my opinion, secularism or communalism has no meaning. For example, let’s talk about DMK. They have joined hands with the Centre, Congress and BJP. Whatever the reason, they are doing it for their own interests “The decision was not taken for secularism or communalism,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)