Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda came under flak for allying the Janata Dal (Secular) with the BJP by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who also accused him of pursuing politics of convenience.
Mr. Siddaramaiah was addressing the public at a rally organised to induct a section of local BJP and JD(S) leaders and workers, to the Congress fold, here on Wednesday.
‘’Deve Gowda in 2014 had vowed to leave the country if Narendra Modi ever became the Prime Minister and had stated earlier that in case of a rebirth he wished to be born as a Muslim. But now he has joined hands with the BJP which is communal and this shows the opportunistic politics being practised by Deve Gowda,” said Mr. Siddaramaiah.
He also took potshots at the former Prime Minister for the recent remarks that he would get the Mekedatu project implemented with the help of the NDA and wondered why he (Mr. Deve Gowda) could not do it all these days.
He dubbed the BJP-JD(S) alliance as born out of fear of losing and mocked the JD(S) as it could get only three seats to contest. Hence the party has fielded Mr. Manjunath, son-in-law of H.D. Deve Gowda to contest as a BJP candidate, remarked Mr. Siddaramaiah.
Turning his guns on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his often repeated slogan of “Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas”, Mr. Siddaramaiah said it was only a slogan and the ground reality was discrimination against the minorities.
Mr. Siddaramaiah referred to the five guarantee schemes implemented by the Congress in the State and said that there was no discrimination based on religion, caste and party ideology, and even BJP supporters are availing the benefits of the five schemes.
Mr. Siddaramaiah also urged the public to vote for the Congress candidate M. Lakshman fielded from the Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency and said “his victory is akin to my victory”.
