BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seems to have got a big boost to his mission — rout JDS and snub former prime minister HD Deve Gowda’s family — with the defeat of Nikhil Kumaraswamy in Channapatna bypoll.
“Gowda snubs me politically as I hail from a Backward Class community. But what about Vokkaliga leaders Nage Gowda, Bache Gowda, Byre Gowda and BL Shankar, among others, whom Gowda had snubbed and sidelined to groom only his family members,” Siddaramaiah lambasted the JDS supremo at a recent bypoll rally in Channapatna, indicating that his next move is to showcase Gowda as a leader opposed to the growth of other Vokkaliga leaders in the Old Mysore region.
The Gowda family, including Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy, has also been targeted by newly-elected Channapatna MLA CP Yogeshwara, who, after his victory against Nikhil, claimed that they (Gowda family) are no more supreme leaders of the Vokkaliga community.
Congress leaders from the community in the region and those disgruntled in JDS too came in handy for Siddaramaiah to take on the Gowda family. Apart from Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, those who were with JDS, including minister N Chaluvarayaswamy, MLAs Balakrishna, and KM Shivalinge Gowda joined hands with Siddaramaiah. Now, senior JDS leader and Chamundeshwari MLA GT Deve Gowda may also join this league, according to sources.
“When the state witnessed a fractured mandate in 2004, the Congress offered the post of CM to JDS, but Deve Gowda rejected it as Siddaramaiah, who was with Gowda then, was a strong contender. Gowda humiliated Siddaramaiah by backing N Dharam Singh of Congress as CM of the alliance government. Siddaramaiah has been nursing a grudge against Gowda and his family since then,” said a former JDS leader, who is a sympathiser of Siddaramaiah.
Siddaramaiah’s expulsion from JDS for holding AHINDA rallies during 2004-05 hurt him even more, he added.
AHINDA leader Siddaramaiah, who became Congress CM twice after his expulsion from JDS two decades ago, is all set to give a fitting reply to Gowda by holding a mega rally in Hassan, which is considered his (Gowda’s) bastion, on December 5.
DKS TO ATTEND SOREN’S OATH-TAKING CEREMONY
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said on Tuesday that he will leave for New Delhi to meet Union ministers and MPs to discuss the Mahadayi issue. Shivakumar told reporters here that he will also go to Jharkhand to attend the function where JMM leader Hemant Soren will take oath as CM of that state. He will meet Congress leaders and discuss plans for the centenary celebrations of the Congress session that was presided over by Mahatma Gandhi in Belagavi, he said. He, however, refused to comment on the speculation over cabinet reshuffle.
