Don’t point fingers at BJP for resignations: JD(S) minister

MYSURU: In comments that raised eyebrows, JD(S) minister GT Devegowda on Tuesday gave the BJP a clean chit, insisting it had nothing to do with the resignations of two Congress legislators. Devegowda claimed that even if the state unit of the saffron party had the capacity to topple the government — which he said it didn’t — the central leadership is against destabilising the coalition.
His comments come in the wake of several senior Congress leaders accusing the BJP of engineering the resignations in a bid to trigger instability in the coalition.
Devegowda told reporters that unlike state leaders of the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah have the power to topple the government, but have no desire to engineer a collapse.
“The entire country respects Modi, who is a popular leader in the world,” Devegowda said. “Modi has great respect for former Prime Minister [and JD(S) patriarch] HD Deve Gowda. The Prime Minister is busy resolving problems in Kashmir. Modi and Shah have no intention of destabilizing the coalition government in the state. Let’s not point fingers at them.”
Asked why he was going soft on the PM, Devegowda said he was only appreciating Modi’s work. “If I speak about Modi, I am accused of being soft on the BJP,” he said. “I work with MLAs of all parties. If I speak about the BJP, rumours are spread that I am going to join the party. But I am a true JD(S) leader and will not switch sides.”
On speculation of midterm polls in Karnataka, Devegowda said: “No MLA wants polls now. There are only a few rich MLAs who can spend money on elections. Others don’t have the money.”