Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G. Parameshwara, on Sunday, accused the Janata Dal (Secular) of indulging in pseudo-secularism by aligning with the Bharatiya Janata Party for the Lok Sabha bypolls in Mandya and Bangalore Rural constituencies.
He told presspersons here that this has exposed the non-secular colours of the Janata Dal(S). Janata Dal (S) leader H.D. Deve Gowda had termed the BJP communal and said that he would keep away from it. But he has compromised his principles, Dr. Parameshwara said.
He expressed surprise over a statement of Mr. Deve Gowda who said that the Congress was responsible for the byelections. On the one hand, Mr. Deve Gowda canvasses saying that the Janata Dal(S) would support the formation of a “third front” and on the other, he enters into a pact with the BJP. The Janata Dal(S) must come out with a clear stand, he advised.
Refuting the charge that the Congress was responsible for the Lok Sabha byelections, he said that byelections had been necessitated because Janata Dal(S) MPs N. Cheluvaraya Swamy and H.D. Kumaraswamy had quit the post to contest the Assembly elections.
Any candidate getting elected now would be Lok Sabha member only for a few months. Were Mr. Cheluvaraya Swamy and Mr. Kumaraswamy not aware of this fact? he asked. He said that the Janata Dal(S) move was fraught with ulterior motives. There could be political reasons for them to vacate their Lok Sabha seats, Dr. Parameshwara said.
Taking a dig at the BJP, Dr. Parameshwara said that “it is a shame” that a national party had withdrawn its candidates from the Lok Sabha bypolls. On the issue of Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar seeking the support of the Samajwadi Party in Bangalore Rural constituency for his brother and Congress candidate D.K. Suresh, he defended Mr. Shivakumar saying that there is nothing wrong in it. In fact, he had written to the Left parties seeking their support for the Congress candidates, he clarified.
Stating that he was not aware of any proposal from the party bosses to make him Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Parameshwara added that the party high command would decide what he should be doing. There were several important issues that the party had to handle in the State, he added.
To another question whether the byelections to the two Lok Sabha and three Legislative Council seats could be seen as a referendum on the ruling party, Dr. Parameshwara replied in the negative. A stable, single-party rule had returned to the State after 14 years, he said and added that the era of coalition governments appeared to be coming to an end.
