BENGALURU: Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries HD Kumaraswamy, who is also Karnataka JDS chief, has said that the Congress and its allies were trying to destabilise the NDA government at the Centre.
Speaking to the media after his son Nikhil Kuamraswamy filed his nomination papers for Channapatna bypoll on Friday, Kumaraswamy said that the former has been fielded as the NDA candidate on the JDS ticket to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Congress is alleging that Nikhil’s candidature was a pre-planned move... but we had held a series of meetings to finalise the candidate. The Congress and its allies have hatched a conspiracy to destabilise the NDA government at the Centre,” Kumaraswamy said.
Earlier, in Bengaluru, former Bangalore Rural MP DK Suresh alleged that Kumaraswamy, being a seasoned politician, had laid a game plan to make his son Nikhil the NDA candidate.
Meanwhile, Kumaraswamy listed out his contributions to Channapatna as an MLA after DyCM and KPCC president DK Shivakumar sought details on the works carried out by the former in the region.
At a public rally attended by several BJP leaders, including former CM DV Sadananda Gowda, LoP in Assembly R Ashoka, Bangalore Rural MP Dr CN Manjunath, and former DyCM Dr CN Ashwath Narayan, Kuamraswamy appealed to Muslims, who had backed him in the 2023 Assembly polls, to support his son Nikhil this time. “Don’t get misguided by the Congress... JDS has always safeguarded your interests,” he appealed to Muslims.
He accused the Congress of laying a trap to defeat Nikhil from Mandya in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections despite being in an alliance with the JDS, and in the 2023 Assembly elections from Ramanagara.
An emotionally charged Kumaraswamy further appealed to the voters of Channapatna to treat Nikhil as their own son and elect him.
Nikhil recalled the contributions of his grandfather and former PM HD Deve Gowda and his father Kumaraswamy and said their achievements will help him win the bypoll.
BJP leader and LoP in the Assembly R Ashoka expressed confidence in Nikhil winning the bypoll and said that the Congress had made former minister CP Yogeshwara a scapegoat at the hands of the DK Brothers.
Earlier in the day, Nikhil, along with his wife Revathi, visited the Sri Tirumalagiri Venkateshwara Temple at JP Nagar in Bengaluru, where his grandfather and former PM HD Deve Gowda presented him the party’s ‘B’ form.
The family also offered prayers at Anjaneya Temple in Kengal, near Channapatna. The absence of JDS core committee chairman GT Devegowda and former minister HD Revanna, Nikhil’s uncle, at Channapatna was conspicuous.