No conditions for truck with Cong, says Gowda

The ‘good cop bad cop’ role play of the father-son duo continues, with JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda reiterating that he had not laid any conditions to forge an alliance with the Congress. However, his son H D Kumaraswamy has continued to stick to his stand on the restructuring of the BBMP.

Gowda who is also upset about Chief Minister Siddaramaiah not initiating talks with him directly, indicated that he was still open to holding discussions with the former.

Though his son H D Kumaraswamy has been insisting on Congress dropping the
proposed restructuring bill, Gowda said that when KPCC president G Parameshwara met him, he had not put any such conditions.

“Siddaramaiah has not called me so far. If he does, then I wouldn’t mind talking to him. I haven’t had any conversation about dropping the restructuring plan with the Congress leaders. My only request to them was to talk to Kumaraswamy,” he said, while speaking to reporters before he addressed the party’s defeated candidates in BBMP elections at the party office on Saturday. JD(S) MLA B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan said that all was well between the Congress and the JD(S), as Siddaramaiah and Gowda go a long way back, and that the former’s political career spurted when he was in the JD(S). Incidentally, Kumaraswamy absented himself from the meet.

Later addressing the gathering Gowda said that despite winning only 14 seats in the recently concluded BBMP elections, the JD(S) was still a force to be reckoned with.
He said that leaders of both the BJP and the Congress should shun their arrogance, for, at this juncture too, it was JD(S) that was calling the shots. “People say that I should be spending time with my grandchildren in my old age. But I cannot let down my party,” he said.

Blaming himself for his party’s defeat in the elections, he said that a majority of the candidates didn’t even receive election material. Despite this, they had exhibited loyalty, he added.

Gowda said that his party office in Seshadripuram would be christened J P Bhavan, and the foundation stone for the office building would be laid this month.