BENGALURU/BALLARI/KALABURAGI: Two days after he appeared to be cosying up to the JD(S) and its supremo H D Deve Gowda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked people not to “waste their votes” on the JD(S), in an apparent attempt to dispel the impression that the BJP was having a tacit understanding with the party in the Karnataka assembly elections.
Speaking at a rally in Bengaluru, Modi said the Congress was a “gold medallist” in corruption and the JD(S) had struck a pact with fundamentalist communal outfits posing a threat to national security, thus making BJP the only option to provide a “development-oriented government.”
“I urge you not to waste your vote on the JD(S). You can ask any political pundit and everyone will tell you that the JD(S) will finish at the third spot. A sensible voter would never vote for them,” Modi told the crowd in a first direct attack on the JD(S). It was Modi who, at a rally in Chamarajanagar district on May 1, had criticised the Congress for “disrespecting” Gowda, and his statement was seen as an overture to the JD(S) keeping in mind the possibility of a post-poll alliance. Both Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah have repeatedly talked about a “secret understanding” between BJP and the JD(S). Reiterating his charge, Rahul said JD(S) means Janata Dal (Sangh Parivar).
Modi’s attack on the JD(S) comes on the day former CM H D Kumaraswamy raised suspicion over the sudden sympathy. “BJP leaders are afraid that they will lose assembly elections by a big margin and will be knocking on the doors of other party leaders to form the government. So Modi is now being more sympathetic towards us,” Kumaraswamy said. Gowda too had dismissed Modi’s statement as political oratory. Earlier in the day, Modi addressed rallies in Kalaburagi and Ballari districts. He reiterated his charge of “Sidda-Rupaiah Sarkar”.