At a massive Muslim convention that had an unmistakable focus on the coming Assembly elections, Janata Dal (Secular) on Sunday sought to rid itself of the ignominy of being a one-time coalition partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and earn the image of a secular and pro-minority party.
Party supremo and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda described the day as the day of “shapa vimochane” (redemption from curse) and asked Muslims and their religious heads, who were on the stage in large numbers, to “bless” his son and the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.
‘Secular legacy’
In a speech replete with references to the “pro-Muslims measures” initiated by him and his son while in power and appeals to young leaders to continue the “secular legacy”, Mr. Gowda said Mr. Kumaraswamy was not an opportunist. “I know that he made a mistake,” he said. However, he pleaded that people should consider who had “made him do it”, squarely blaming the Congress for the turn of events in 2006.
Mr. Gowda said he had advised his son “never to betray trust.” The octogenarian politician said he now had no further ambition except to ensure that the secular base of his party was not eroded.
“Nobody can win elections with votes of Vokkaligas or Lingayats alone. We need support of Muslims, backward classes and Dalits,” he said, in an oblique reference to the political polarisation in Karnataka and the recent events that have highlighted it. Recalling the reservation regime ushered in during his tenure as Chief Minister in 1995, Mr. Gowda said Lingayats should remember that they got a 5 per cent reservation share as against Vokkaligas who got 4 per cent. Muslims too were given 4 per cent reservation share, he said, and added it was a “model” for the country.
Continuing the effort at explaining the party’s coalition with the BJP, Mr. Kumaraswamy said the Congress’s attempt at “breaking the JD(S)” had “compelled” him to join hands with the BJP. He sought to emphasise that it was a decision that his father was always opposed to and hurt by.
‘Organised ploy’
He said some parties and individuals were projecting the youth in the Muslim community as fundamentalists and made no honest efforts to give the community its due in education and employment. It was an “organised ploy” to keep the community out of the mainstream, and Muslims should not fall for vote-bank politics, he said.
Zameer Ahmed Khan, MLA, the main organiser of the event at Palace Grounds, described Mr. Kumaraswamy as the “future Chief Minister” and appealed to Muslims to not trust the Congress which had “betrayed” them repeatedly.
