‘JD(S) will not bring down State govt.’

Deve Gowda says the party is now focusing on strengthening it from the grassroot level

JD(S) national president H.D. Deve Gowda at a press conference in Belagavi on Wednesday.

The Janata Dal (Secular) will not conspire to bring down the State BJP government, party president H.D. Deve Gowda said here on Wednesday. “A strong regional party is essential for the all-round development of the State. That is why we are focused on building the JD(S) from the grassroot level now. We will need some time for that. We will let the BJP government complete its term. It is in our own interest that it completes its term. If the government falls now and we have to get ready for an election, we will not be able to reorganise our party in such a short time,” he said.

“But the B.S. Yediyurappa government is not functioning properly. The CM himself has admitted that there is rampant corruption in the government. This is not a good sign for the State,” he said.

But he did not support the demand for a White Paper on the State’s finances from the government. “The House has competent leaders like H.D. Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah. I am sure they will present all the facts before the House,” he said.

He said that he believed Mr. Siddaramaiah was the reason for the fall of the JDS-Congress coalition government.

“The MLAs who quit the Congress and the JD(S) to join the BJP have admitted that they left for Mumbai only to see that I faced a political defeat. It is clear to see who is behind the fall of the government,” he said.

“We are very happy with the success of the Aam Admi Party in Delhi. We will try to learn some lessons from their political activities including campaigning. But we have no illusions that we will get the number of seats it got,” he said.

“No political leader or party has the capacity to destroy another party. The media, however, has the power to make or mar a leader or a party. The BJP leaders used the CAG report to highlight the failures of the UPA – 2 government. They promoted Narendra Modi saying he had led Gujarat successfully for 12 years. The media, both national and regional, supported the BJP. I hold no grudge against the media. But the situation was like that then,” he said.

“After the victory of the NDA government, we tried to build an alliance of non-BJP parties by bringing together six Chief Ministers and 15 other leaders. But our coalition government did not last. There is no need to go into the details,” he said.