LS poll debacle: Gowda, HDK take swipes at Cong for blaming JD(S)

BENGALURU: Both JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda and his chief minister son H D Kumaraswamy on Friday took swipes at a section of state Congress leaders, who have been blaming the coalition partner for the Lok Sabha polls debacle.
While Gowda sought to remind Congress leaders of their party’s precarious situation in the country in reply to a section of them holding JD(S) responsible for the defeat of the allies in Lok Sabha polls, Kumaraswamy indirectly blamed Congress for his party’s poor show in the 2018 assembly elections. Both were addressing party workers after felicitating newly-elected members of the urban local bodies in Bengaluru
“Some people are saying that Congress lost due to its alliance with the JD(S) and injustice meted out to Congress. Are the Vokkaligas responsible for it? Who betrayed whom and injustice was meted out to whom in Vijayapura?” Gowda said while referring to murmurs in political circles that Congress workers supported BJP in Vijayapura, where JD(S) candidate was in the fray.
He also said that he would not be bogged down by his party’s defeat and would bounce back. “I still have energy and enthusiasm to build the party. It is my responsibility. I have taken it as a challenge,” he said.
Kumaraswamy indirectly blamed the Congress for his party’s poor performance and BJP’s good show in the 2018 assembly polls.
“We were hoping to get 65-70 seats. But some people misled Muslims saying that JD(S) will go with the BJP after elections. If Muslims had taken the right decision, the BJP would not have won 104 seats,” he said.
The father-son duo were also in unison when they targeted media. “Media is not happy with the coalition government from the day it came into existence. It is disastrous,” Gowda said.
Kumaraswamy, who has stopped speaking to news channels for the past few days, accused media of being indifferent to his government. “They are not ready to support the coalition government. Whenever I see the plight of the poor and physically challenged persons, I shed tears naturally but media portrays it as crocodile tears,” he said.
On allegations that he is trying to scuttle the freedom of press, the CM said: "I am son of a person who went to jail opposing Emergency. I will never ever indulge in anything to scuttle media freedom."
Both Gowda and Kumraswamy denied that Nikhil spoke about the mid-term polls in Karnataka, adding that the media misquoted him.
Nikhil had spoken only about strengthening the party and he did not give a call to party workers to prepare for mid-term polls, Gowda said.
“Nikhil was motivating party workers to strengthen the party. But media portrayed it wrongly,” Kumaraswamy said.
In Hubballi, state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa, while referring to Nikhil’s alleged statement, said that BJP would not accept mid-term polls.
“The BJP will form the government. There is no question of going to mid-term polls,” he added.