BENGALURU: As the countdown for the Lok Sabha polls begins, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday trained his guns at his bete noire, JDS supreme and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, accusing the latter of “double standards” for cosying up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Deve Gowda is heaping praises on Modi now as he has formed an inseparable relationship with the PM. I wonder why Gowda became like this. The same Gowda had said that if Modi becomes the PM again (during 2019 LS polls), he will leave the country. This is double standards. I did not expect the former PM of this country to say this,” he said.
At a felicitation programme for newly elected Bengaluru Teachers’ constituency MLC Puttanna in Kengeri here, Siddaramaiah said if the BJP assumes that its candidates can win in the name of Modi, then it is nothing but stupidity. The saffron party, he said, had failed to win the constituencies where Modi had campaigned during the 2023 assembly polls.
He also recalled that Gowda had once said that he wants to be “born as a Muslim in his next life.” “Gowda had said that he will always be against the BJP. Now, he has aligned with the party for the survival of JDS, but people of the state are intelligent enough to know that Gowda takes decisions politically for the survival of his family.” He expressed confidence that MP DK Suresh will win from the Bengaluru Rural seat again.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar insisted that the BJP and JDS MPs should get drought relief from the Centre. “They have not raised their voices for the state. We have a water crisis in Bengaluru, but BJP MPs are not prevailing upon the Centre to approve the Mekedatu project. They have not done anything on our demand to increase the number of man days under MGNREGA from 100 to 150.
Instead, they are trying to stifle DK Suresh, who tried to raise his voice in favour of the state,” he said. “If they have any shame, let them get drought relief from the Centre. And also increase the number of man days under MGNREGA from 100 to 150.” Shivakumar also appealed to the teacher fraternity to support the Congress in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. “The CM and I appeal to you to support our candidates in Bengaluru North, South, Central and Rural Lok Sabha constituencies, like you did in the recent MLC elections,” he said and promised to fulfil the teachers’ demands.