Twenty months ago, JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda had even refused to give his blessings to his son H D Kumaraswamy, who was about to take oath as the State’s Chief Minister, for having joined hands with the ‘saffron’ party, the BJP. “You can go your way, and I will go my way,” was Gowda’s curt response to his son.
Twenty months down the line, when the JD(S) was expected to transfer the power to the coalition partner as per the power-sharing agreement, it was the same Gowda who called the shots.

The former prime minister, known for his shrewd political moves, had gradually taken absolute control of the coalition government’s affairs. That’s reason enough to ask, “Was it all a drama staged by the father-son duo?”

Revoke
After maintaining silence for nearly an year, Gowda had started openly hailing his son’s grama vastavya, while Kumaraswamy also began defending his father on all forums. Meanwhile, Gowda revoked the suspension of Kumaraswamy and the 38 party MLAs who backed his son’s alignment with the BJP.

Gowda also started criticising the BJP around the same time. He started with the internal reservation issue and blamed the BJP for opposing implementation of the reservation. The veteran leader threatened with dire consequences if the BJP did not mend its ways. It was at this juncture that a worried Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa met Gowda and pacified him. Gowda, again, came out in public to support Kumaraswamy over the issue of farmers’ suicides.

“Don’t talk of resignation. You are the son of a lion,” was how Gowda advised his son. Then onwards, Gowda has reacted to each and every issue pertaining to the government: from 2007-08 budgetary schemes to the core issue of power transfer.

During the final, hurried talks between the coalition partners on the transfer of power, it was yet again Gowda who emerged as the key player. The fact that he was dealing with the leaders of a national party like the BJP did not seem to weigh him down while making demands.

Denial
Having denied the blessing at the time of his assuming office, Kumaraswamy had stated that he was confident of convincing his father by putting in a good performance as the chief minister. Gowda seems to be more than convinced.

Of course, Gowda wants his son to continue because he thinks his son’s performance is extremely good. But he is not willing to accept the BJP. If the Congress fails to fall to the game plan of Gowda again, then Gowda will see his son as ex-cm, at least till next elections.