G T Deve Gowda officially out of JD(S) event, son active

Mysuru: The JD(S) is holding its Janarondige (with people) Janata Dala (party) membership enrollment campaign in Mysuru from February 18, without its senior leader and Chamundeshwari MLA G T Deve Gowda. This is the first event of the JD(S), officially keeping out the party strongman.

In the media conference, held by the party leaders in Mysuru, on Monday, Deve Gowda was expectedly absent, even though his son and Hunsur MLA G D Harish Gowda was actively present. Deve Gowda’s image was also expectedly not there in the banner of the media conference.

It may be noted that Union Minister and JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy publicly disowned Deve Gowda during a media interaction in Mysuru, on February 8.

Kumaraswamy had said, Deve Gowda is not with the party and thus the media should not raise questions on it. "Should we keep the people without loyalty or commitment to the party with us?” he had asked.

Deve Gowda has been detached from the party and its leaders since the formation of Kumaraswamy-led JD(S)-Congress coalition government in May, 2018. But, the JD(S) patriarch family – former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, his son Kumaraswamy and grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy – had brokered peace during the elections in 2019 (Lok Sabha), 2023 (Assembly) and 2024 (Lok Sabha again) to keep him in the party fold.

G T Devegowda

But, G T Deve Gowda has been keeping away, except for a few months when he was chairman of the party core committee. Despite this, G T Deve Gowda used to claim that he was in the JD(S) and was concentrating on his constituency.

However, Harish Gowda addressed the media conference. Nikhil Kumaraswamy is scheduled to take part in the Janarondige Janata Dala at Hunsur on February 25 along with Harish Gowda. Contemporaries Nikhil and Harish are close since the 2018 Assembly polls.