Bengaluru: Former Prime Minister and JD(S) Rajya Sabha member H.D. Deve Gowda on Wednesday responded to remarks made by AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge in Parliament regarding his party’s alliance choices, saying his association with the Congress in the past was a “forced marriage” that eventually ended in a “divorce”.
In a statement, Deve Gowda said Kharge had made a light hearted comment in Parliament referring to his “love” for the Congress and “marriage” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. Gowda said he was not present in the House when the remarks were made as he had left for Bengaluru to attend Ugadi celebrations.
“My dear and longtime friend Mallikarjun Kharge made a humorous comment in Parliament today about me having been in love with the Congress but eventually marrying Modi Ji. He also said he did not know the reason for it,” Gowda said.
Responding in a similar tone, the former Prime Minister said his alliance with the Congress was not voluntary. “If I were to respond in the same language of marriage, I would say it was a forced marriage with the Congress, but I had to divorce them because it became an abusive relationship,” he said.
Recalling the political developments of 2018 in Karnataka, Gowda said the Congress leadership had approached the JD(S) after the Assembly elections. According to him, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had proposed that H.D. Kumaraswamy should become the Chief Minister.
“I had clearly said in everyone’s presence that Mallikarjun Kharge should be made the Chief Minister. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was also present. However, Azad insisted that Kumaraswamy should lead the government,” Gowda stated.
Referring to the collapse of the coalition government in 2019, Gowda alleged that the Congress had failed to prevent its legislators from defecting. “After all the celebrations of forming the government, what happened in 2019? Several Congress MLAs defected to the BJP. It is now common knowledge who facilitated those defections,” he said, targeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
He added that if the Congress leadership had acted against those responsible for encouraging defections at that time, Kharge would be in a stronger position today as AICC president.
Clarifying his stand, Gowda said the JD(S) did not abandon the Congress alliance. “To set the record straight, I did not desert the Congress alliance. It was they who walked away. That left me with no choice but to divorce them and seek a more stable alliance,” he said.
(IANS)
