Tumkur rural MLA B Suresh Gowda continued to be a newsmaker with his contentious statements, besides resorting to a balancing act to keep B S Yeddyurappa, the BJP and the Congress in good humour.
Gowda, who allegedly wished to join the Congress before the Assembly polls, was distraught as the news spread like wildfire and forced him to deny it.
While speaking to reporters, he went to the extent of terming the party hoppers ‘dogs and foxes’.
In fact, with the backing of a top BJP leader who was on good terms with Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dr G Parameshwara, Gowda was on a mission to join the Congress, sources said.
His name even made the rounds of those who were about to defect along with Beluru Gopalakrishna and Raju Gouda.
“I am not responsible for the rumours. I am too small to criticise the Congress which has a history of over 100 years,” he remarked.
He clarified that he is happy with the BJP and did not want to join a party in which even the likes of S M Krishna and Siddharamaiah are struggling to get the high command’s appointment.
Another source said that since the Congress had rejected his proposal, he decided to go public and clarify his loyalty to the BJP.
While likening Yeddyurappa to former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on the development front, he observed he would have become the Narendra Modi of Karnataka if he had continued in the BJP.