VIJAYAPURA : JDS Youth Wing president Nikhil Kumaraswamy said despite having a political tie-up with the BJP, the party has not shelved its secular values.
“The JDS is still strongly attached to our core secular credentials as secularism still stays in our heart firmly. We have certainly not compromised on that,” he told media persons on Monday, replying to criticism that the party has no ideology and switches over loyalty anytime for political power.
He said the decision to enter into a power-sharing pact with the BJP was taken at the higher level of the JDS and there is no point in talking at the local level.
Questioning the secular credentials of the Congress, which has accused the JDS of compromising its secular values for power, Nikhil wondered why the Congress entered political arrangements with Shiv Sena in Maharashtra despite calling Shiv Sena a communal party.
Replying to allegations that a majority of leaders are quitting the JDS as they felt being sidelined, Nikhil defended the party, stating that the JDS has acted as a “leader making machine” with over 50 leaders in the present government having a JDS background. “Even in the case of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, he would not have become CM today if my grandfather, Deve Gowda had not made him deputy chief minister in 1996 when he was with the JDS,” he said.
Accusing the ruling Congress of destroying the state’s economy, he said after coming to power in Karnataka, the Siddaramaiah-led government has been borrowing huge loans to manage the budget. The government is borrowing at most Rs 1 lakh crore every year, which comes to around Rs 300 crore every day. “In this regard, the party will hold a public programme in Vijayapura city on February 27. We will hold similar events across Karnataka to prepare the party for the coming polls,” he said.