MANGALURU: Former prime minister and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda, accompanied by his wife Chennamma, visited Kukke Subramanya temple on Monday. Later, speaking to the media on his party’s alliance with the BJP, Gowda said seat-sharing is yet to be decided ahead of Lok Sabha polls.
“(Former CM and Gowda’s son) Kumaraswamy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and discussed contesting the Lok Sabha elections together. We still have four months for the polls. Seat-sharing will be decided after Dasara. We had held two rounds of meetings with 19 MLAs and eight MLCs, and then only Kumaraswamy met the BJP top brass to discuss the alliance. We will hold a second round of meetings with Shah soon. We have decided to go with the BJP, as we want to shatter Congress’ confidence of winning 28 seats,” he said.
To a query, the former PM said they will not discuss how votes will get split on the basis of caste. “In the previous election, BJP received 30-33% votes, while Congress received around 40% and JDS received 20-22%. The state’s people will decide on the BJP-JDS alliance. Let us not discuss political developments of the past in the state.
Now, a Congress government is there in the state and they are confident of winning 28 seats. Hence, we have decided to fight the upcoming election with the support of the BJP,” he added.
Regarding the I.N.D.I.A bloc, Gowda said they will not discuss the new alliance of the opposition. “Be it NDA or I.N.D.I.A, we are not concerned about them. I’m 91-years-old and I do not want to comment on these alliances,” he said.
To a question on the violence in Shivamogga, he said it is a sensitive area and the government must take all precautionary measures in these matters. Meanwhile, Gowda and his wife offered Ashlesha Puja at Kukke Subramanya temple and also Tulabhara.