In a show of solidarity against their “common enemy” —the Bharatiya Janata Party — top leaders of the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Congress on Saturday held a joint press conference and said they were committed to defeating the “divisive, communal and anti-democratic” forces in Karnataka in the coming bypolls and the 2019 general elections.
With just 12 days left for the byelections to three Lok Sabha and two Assembly constituencies, it was also an attempt to send a strong message to their party cadre, who continue to quarrel at the grassroots level, to be united.
The press meet was attended by the who’s who of the coalition partners — former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, Coalition Coordination Committee chairman and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara, State Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao, and Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar. They expressed confidence in winning from all five constituencies.
‘The past is past’
Mr. Gowda and Mr. Siddaramaiah, in particular, were keen to speak in a single voice and reiterate that their past differences were buried for good. Refusing to respond to questions about the past statements and accusations against each other by leaders of both parties in the run-up to the Assembly elections, they appealed to the media and the public not to rake up the past. They said their focus was on on the victory of coalition candidates in the bypolls, which would be the “semi-final” for the Lok Sabha elections.
“Forgive us for our past mistakes. It is time for every one of us to act in accordance to our age and fight against the greater danger the county is facing in terms of political, economic and social issues,” said Mr. Gowda. Going down memory lane, he said the late Ramakrishna Hegde and he had buried their differences in the “larger interest of the country” in the 1980s.
He said this endeavour would be the preamble for the coming together of secular, democratic, progressive and pro-people forces at the national level for the general polls. “The country is facing various issues because of the lopsided policies of the NDA government. There is a sense of fear in the country and the atmosphere is suffocating for minorities and Dalits in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat. The economy is in bad shape. The Kashmir issue is getting more and more complex. Under the circumstances, the unity of secular parties and the Opposition is the need of the hour. Today’s joint effort is an indication of the future,” the former Prime Minister said.
Mr. Siddaramaiah chipped in by expressing confidence in the success of the coalition partners next year. “Everyone is aware of the conspiracies hatched to bring down the democratically elected coalition government,” he said, adding that unity among the parties would help contain the division of secular votes.
Both leaders said the parties had issued directions to their workers to join hands keeping the country in mind. “Yes, there are minor hiccups among the workers. That has been sorted out with the intervention of leaders,” said the former CM.
The leaders also announced that the parties would campaign together in all the constituencies. “If needed, I will campaign in Ramanagaram, Shivamogga and Mandya. Likewise, Gowdaji has agreed to campaign in Jamkhandi and Ballari,” said Mr. Siddaramaiah.
To this, Mr. Gowda added: “When my friend V.S. Ugrappa appealed to me to campaign in Ballari, I readily agreed.”
BJP reaction
Meanwhile, the BJP mocked the joint press meet and called it a “desperate attempt” by the Congress and JD(S) to save their existence. In a tweet, the party said: “Fact of the matter is these two family-run political parties have come together to save one family here in Karnataka and another family back in Delhi.”
