Mandya/Hassan, Apr 5: JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda on Thursday claimed that the rivalry in Congress ranks against Nikhil Kumaraswamy’s candidature in Mandya constituency, is so deep rooted that even former chief minister Siddaramaiah cannot salvage the situation.
Addressing a rally in KR Pet, Mandya district, Gowda said: “I’ve been freed by deputy chief minister G Parameshwara from electioneering in Tumakuru [where he is contesting] and will campaign across the state with Siddaramaiah. But I’ve decided that even if Siddaramaiah seeks votes for Nikhil, it will not help. Local Congress leaders want to defeat him [Nikhil] to humiliate chief minister HD Kumaraswamy as Nikhil is his son.”
Gowda claimed some Congress leaders have moved away from the party and there is no point in visiting their houses to seek their support. “But for you (voters), who can I approach seeking votes for Nikhil?” Gowda said, while becoming emotional.
Perhaps admitting for the first time that it could be an uphill task for his grandson to win, Gowda said he had warned leaders of his party that Nikhil would face difficulty in Mandya if he is fielded from there. “I told them that our opponents could use it as a tool to hit back at us, saying we promote family members,” he added.
The former PM’s statements come on a day when Congress workers from Nagamangala declared they will support independent candidate Sumalatha, even though the party has declared its support for Nikhil. Nagamangala assembly constituency was represented by former minister N Chaluvarayaswamy, who quit the JD(S) last year and joined the Congress after he fell out with Kumaraswamy. He contested the 2018 polls as a Congress candidate, but lost. He holds the Gowda family responsible for his debacle.
Meanwhile, Gowda sought to reach out to Siddaramaiah, calling the former chief minister’s defeat from Chamundeshwari assembly constituency in 2018 “as the people’s mandate”.
“I know he is pained at the defeat,” Gowda told reporters in Hassan. “I’ve lost elections in my political career too. But I didn’t campaign against Siddaramaiah in Chamundeshwari. JD(S) minister GT Devegowda is also not responsible for Siddaramaiah’s defeat. It is people who defeated him.”
Gowda said Siddaramaiah is still nursing a grouse that he was not elevated CM after he vacated the post and became the PM in June 1996. “He switched to the Congress and became the CM and ruled for five years. But he lost the Chamundeshwari segment and it wasn’t engineered by the JD(S),” he said.
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