JD(S) rebels hit back at Deve Gowda, Revanna

To take ‘political sanyas’ if Gowda brings party to power without their support

June 14, 2016 12:00 am | Updated November 17, 2021 04:43 am IST - BENGALURU:

Undeterred by the actions of the Janata Dal (Secular), the eight suspended legislators on Monday challenged party supremo H.D. Deve Gowda to “allow” his son and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to cross over to their side, claiming they could “make him Chief Minister after the 2018 Assembly polls”.

Holding both Mr. Gowda and his son and former Minister H.D. Revanna responsible for the present impasse in the party, they alleged that Mr. Gowda perceived Mr. Kumaraswamy as a “potential threat” to his political career. They called Mr. Revanna a “hurdle” in the growth of Mr. Kumaraswamy as a mass leader.

Open defiance

In a public tirade against Mr. Gowda, the suspended legislators said they would take “political sanyas” if he could bring the JD(S) to power without their support.

Except for Zameer Ahmed Khan and Iqbal Ansari, all other rebel MLAs, including N. Cheluvarayaswamy, H.C. Balakrishna, Akhanda Srinivasamurthy, L.B.P. Bheema Naik, K. Gopalaiah, and Ramesh Bandisidde Gowda were present at the press meet called by the rebels to assert their position and send a message to the leadership to “stop mudslinging”.

Blaming the Gowda family for their decision to support the Congress in Rajya Sabha polls, they alleged that differences between father and son (Mr. Kumaraswamy) over the issues of alliance with Congress in the BBMP, local body polls had pushed them to the brink.

Asserting that their loyalty to the party is “unquestionable”, they left the issue to the discretion of the party acting against them to the leadership, while blaming the leaders for pushing them to the brink. “We have not received a show cause notice so far. We will respond receiving it,” Mr. Balakrishna said. Saying the rebels are a “mismatch” for a legendary politician like Mr. Gowda, Mr. Balakrishna said he was free to take any action, as “the party literally belongs to two top leaders.”

Refuting Mr. Gowda’s claim that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is trying to break the party with the support of rebel MLAs, Mr. Cheluvarayaswamy said “neither Siddaramaiah nor B.S. Yeddyurappa are interested in embracing us. They are banking on the dissidence in JD(S)”.

The differences between the leaders percolated to the grassroots level, with the supporters of both sides clashing at Ramanagaram. Considering the protests that erupted in Ramanagaram, Mandya and other places, security was beefed up at the venue of the press meet.

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