BENGALURU: Amid the Congress party mocking that the BJP-led NDA had left former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda in the lurch by denying him a Rajya Sabha seat from Karnataka, the JD(S) supremo on Wednesday clarified that he was not interested in the seat and that his relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not be strained.
Hitting back indirectly at the Congress, Gowda said that if the Grand Old Party believed that his relationship with Modi would be affected over a Rajya Sabha seat, it was a misconception. He addressed the media at the party office, J P Bhavan, exclusively on the issue, as Congress functionaries had been mockingly suggesting that the JD(S) should sever ties with the BJP-led NDA.
The 93-year-old JD(S) patriarch further stated that the JD(S)-BJP bond remained strong and that his son, H D Kumaraswamy, would continue as a Union Cabinet minister handling the key portfolios of Heavy Industries and Steel.
"I went to Delhi for a book release on May 26. If at all I was interested, I could have spoken to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and PM Modi. But I was not at all interested," he told reporters while addressing a press conference at J P Bhavan.
"I express my gratitude to the media, which projected me as being in the race," he quipped sarcastically.
Gowda admitted that he, along with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, had criticised Modi over the Godhra massacre when the latter was Gujarat Chief Minister. However, he said that after forging an alliance with the BJP in 2014, neither he nor the JD(S) had criticised Modi.
"Not only in the country but abroad, Modi is being held in high esteem for his leadership," he remarked.
"My relationship with Modi hasn't been cultivated over the last 10 years just for a Rajya Sabha seat. It is a personal bond between me and Modi from the last 10 years.
I have developed a close personal relationship with him, and that relationship will continue even if I am not a member (of the Rajya Sabha)."
"Personally, in any situation in this country, whether it's regarding Modi or his administration, I have spoken my feelings fearlessly," he claimed.
"I have said this before—when Kumaraswamy's government crumbled here, I was the one who told Kumaraswamy to go with Modi. It is no secret."
"Under all circumstances, I stood with Modi. I stood with the Prime Minister for the work that he has done in the last 10 years to ensure this country's all-round development," he elaborated.
"India is a vast country with a population of 1.45 billion. Let us be frank, I don't think there is any other leader from the I.N.D.I.A. alliance who can compete with Modi."
"Not only for the overall development of our country, he set a goal of achieving a $5 trillion economy and taking our economic strength to that level," he said.
"Our strength in defence has increased immensely; many such things can be said.
Today, Modi is recognised as a leader abroad. Not just in our country, but internationally as well, there is a special place for him. No one has grown to that level," he added.