Never used money to build party: HD Deve Gowda

BENGALURU: Spewing venom a day after the suspension of eight party MLAs for supporting a candidate of the ruling Congress in Rajya Sabha polls, Janata Dal (Secular) patriarch H D Deve Gowda said on Monday that his party was built by workers, and was not invigorated by money power.

“I never considered money as a tool to build the party. When the party grows stronger, money comes automatically. The greatest strength of our party is our workers,” he told the media here.

A visibly upset Mr Gowda trained his guns on rebel legislators —   Zameer Ahamed Khan, N Cheluvarayaswamy and H C Balakrishna — alleging that his son and state unit president H D Kumaraswamy was persuaded by these MLAs to join hands and form a coalition government with Bharatiya Janata Party  in 2006.

“Mr Kumaraswamy had no intentions to join hands with the BJP. However, these three tricked him and made him join hands with Bharatiya Janata Party. Since then, I am upset with them. Now, they have crossed all limits,” he added.

He launched a vituperative attack against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, energy minister D K Shivakumar and state Bharatiya Janata Party president B.S. Yeddyurappa, alleging that the trio had ganged up to decimate his party. He threw a challenge at them saying he would tonsure his head and parade himself on a donkey, if they succeed in their plans.

When asked whether he was willing to lose minority leader like Mr Zameer Ahamed Khan, Mr Gowda said the former minister was trying to finish the Janata Dal (Secular) for the last three years.

“All he did was to hobnob with Mr Siddaramaiah and tried to ruin the party. The party never benefited because of him. It lost a lot due to him,” Mr Gowda added.