Bengaluru, Jan 18: Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H D Deve Gowda and Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy have urged the minority communities, especially Muslims, to extend its support to the party to “uproot” the Narendra Modi regime at the Centre.
Speaking at the JD(S) minority convention organised at the Palace Grounds on Thursday, the two leaders reiterated their party’s intention to continue its alliance with the Congress to distance the BJP from power. They also appealed to the Congress to cooperate in his fight against communal forces.
Kumaraswamy claimed that his party could never become the ‘B’ team of any other political party. He made the ‘B’ team reference recalling the accusations made by the Congress, his current coalition partner, during the Assembly elections last May. Before forming the government with the JD(S), the Congress had questioned the regional party’s secular credentials by accusing it of being the ‘B’ team of the BJP.
The JD(S) had gone on to losing a large chunk of Muslim votes during the Assembly elections. By organising the minorities convention, however now hopes to consolidate the Muslim votes ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Kumaraswamy said that it was imperative for the secular forces to be voted to power to protect the constitutional rights of the religious minorities who were feeling increasingly vulnerable under the Modi regime.
He said that his father Deve Gowda was the only leader who could bring the secular forces together. “Only Deve Gowda has the mettle to tie up Modi’s Ashwamedha horse. It is important for the minority communities to keep faith in him,” he added.
Gowda said that when the Congress extended its unconditional support to the JD(S) to form the government, leaders from all secular parties in the country had attended Kumaraswamy’s oath taking ceremony.
He said that Karnataka has sent a clear, strong signal to the country that secular and democratic forced had joined forces to defeat the “communal BJP” in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
“As prime minister, I had ensured that there was no violence during the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. I ensured that the Muslim youths could join the army. However, everybody knows what’s happening in the country in the last four years. If the minorities want to live in peace, they should vote the secular forces to power,” he added.
More conventions
The JD(S) plans to hold more conventions of various communities in the run-up to the polls. The party also plans to hold a convention of women in February, after national executive of the party which is scheduled to be held on January 29-30.
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