Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru (RJP)
Bengaluru, Jan 29: On the day when chief minister H D Kumaraswamy lambasted the Congress with emotional outburst, his father and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda said he would strive to save the coalition government till the last moment of his life. He also asked his son to have patience.
Speaking to reporters after former JD(S) MLA Y S V Datta took charge as the campaign committee chairman, Deve Gowda said that he had decided to go with the Congress to ensure the survival of secular forces in the country.
"I have the tolerance and endurance to address the threats to the government. Both the Congress and the JD(S) have the ability to address the grievances of their leaders. I know why the Congress legislators have hailed Siddaramaiah. But I do not want to talk about it,” said Deve Gowda.
Gowda stressed the importance of regional parties in the country and said “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is trying to destroy the ideals enshrined in the Constitution by Dr B R Ambedkar,”
"In order to ensure that such values are saved, regional parties and secular forces should survive in the country. I am too old to organise the party now. Modi has showed the dangers the country will face if there are no regional parties. That is why I have tolerated all the pain. If none of the regional parties survives, it will be impossible to fulfill the aspirations of our Constitution," he said.
Later in the day, Gowda summoned Kumaraswamy to the party office and asked him not to resort to emotional outbursts and give public statements in haste. The former Prime Minister asked his son to have patience.
Gowda also asked Kumaraswamy to refrain from making politically motivated statements, especially in the light of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Threatening to resign from his post at such a juncture would send a wrong message to the electorate, especially when the non-BJP forces were aligning together, he is learnt to have said.
Gowda is also said to have asked his son to ignore remarks, even if it is from the coalition partner, Congress, and focus on governance.