Where’s Congress in the country, H D Deve Gowda asks Siddaramaiah

Hitting out at CM Siddaramaiah over his 'where is JD(S)?' remark, JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda on Saturday said, 'then where’s Congress in the country'.

Addressing a JD(S) workers’ meeting here, Gowda said, “Congress is in power in just 4 states. Despite Cong's constant humiliation, Siddaramaiah keeps talking about JD(S). He doesn’t have that moral right.”

The former PM said, “Siddaramaiah says how can Kumaraswamy, who as CM couldn’t ensure his son Nikhil’s victory from Mandya in 2019, win this time? The Congress is not getting candidates to contest Lok Sabha polls. No minister was keen to contest. The Congress has reached such a state because of Siddaramaiah’s deceitful politics.”

Noting that the party’s alliance with BJP will continue beyond general elections, Gowda said the CM and other Congress leaders have no right to speak against alliance.

“In 2019 elections, despite our alliance with Congress, I was not keen to contest polls. They played games and made me contest from Tumkur forcibly. Siddaramaiah made me contest from Tumkur to accommodate his close aide in Mysuru seat. He, along with K N Rajanna and a few other Congress leaders, held late night secret meetings and conspired to defeat me,” Gowda said.