Deve Gowda mentions mid-term polls, scares coalition partner Congress

Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president HD Deve Gowda gave coalition partner Congress a scare by claiming that mid-term elections were inevitable before changing his stance and expressing solidarity with the national party.

Gowda’s outburst in the morning after he held a display of Yoga at his house on the occasion of International Yoga Day came a day after news reports had suggested that former chief minister and Gowda’s one-time protégé Siddaramaiah had advised Rahul Gandhi to sever ties with the JD(S) because it was hurting the party.

“There is no doubt that there will be mid-term polls…. They had given us their word that they will support the government, but I am watching how they are behaving,” Gowda said in the morning.

He went on to remind the Congress that his son HD Kumaraswamy became chief minister on their insistence, since he had proposed the name of Mallikarjun Kharge as the chief minister.

“People in that party [Congress] feel that their party will be finished if they continue in alliance with us. They say the sooner this coalition is ended the better,” Gowda said. “I wasn’t adamant on making this coalition government. They approached me.... I told them to make Kharge the chief minister,” he said, adding that the high command insisted that Kumaraswamy should take that post instead.

Later, addressing a convention of party workers in the city, Gowda backtracked claiming that he had meant local body elections that were set to come up over the course of the next year. “I appeal to the press. There is no need to misunderstand what I said. The coalition government will continue it has nothing to do with me. Congress and JD(S) have an understanding,” he said.

A day after Kumaraswamy and deputy chief minister G Parameshwara released a book detailing the achievements of the coalition government; Deve Gowda raised questions over the absence of many ministers at the event.

“How many ministers were present when the booklet was released? I saw everything. They might have had other work, but there were only three or four people. This isn’t just Kumaraswamy’s government, it’s a coalition government,” Deve Gowda said.

The remarks caused quite a stir and put coalition leaders on the back foot as they attempted to play down the statements. Addressing the press in Gurmitkal taluk, Kumaraswamy said his father had been misunderstood. “He spoke about how the coalition government was formed. He only spoke about local body elections. This need not be misunderstood to mean mid-term polls for the assembly. He has already clarified. There need be no doubt that this government will finish its full term.”

Congress’s Karnataka unit president Dinesh Gundu Rao said he would speak to Deve Gowda about the statement. “Deve Gowda is a senior leader and I do not wish to react to his comment. However, the Congress has made it clear that we will support this government for four more years and there is no change in our stance,” he said.

Gowda’s outburst also forced Siddaramaiah to issue a denial of the news reports published on Thursday. Through a tweet put out on Friday, the former chief minister said: “The news about me recommending @INCIndia President @RahulGandhi to break coalition ties are baseless and nothing but a figment of imagination. Speculative journalism is sending wrong signals to the people of Karnataka and will disturb the smooth functioning of our govt.”

Gowda’s statement comes at a time, when the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party is looking to renew efforts to stoke dissidence from within the coalition. A senior MLA of the party confirmed to HT that the central leadership had given the state unit the go ahead to “welcome” any dissident MLAs.

Over the course of a turbulent year in power, the coalition has been repeatedly hit by rebellion within. Many MLAs have publicly spoken out about leaders and this dissidence has been held as the biggest reason for the coalition winning just two of the 28 seats in the state in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

Responding to Gowda’s statement, former chief minister and BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa said his party would not allow mid-term polls. “They are making such statements to confuse the people. We will not allow mid-term polls at any cost. If they cannot continue in government they should resign and we’ll take over,” he said.