Assembly poll 2018: H D Deve Gowda to plough a lonely furrow

Mysuru/Hassan: The bonhomie between the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) during the recent Nanjangud and Gundlupet by-polls has set off speculation about a possible alliance between the two parties for the 2018 Assembly poll, but both JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda and state unit president H.D. Kumaraswamy ruled out the possibility on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters in Mysuru, Mr Deve Gowda said that the party had experienced setbacks every time it had entered into an alliance with the national parties.

“We will not repeat that mistake again. People have realised there is a need for a regional party and we are confident they will back the Janata Dal (Secular) in 2018. We will field candidates in all constituencies,” he added.

Denying state BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa’s claim that the JD(S) had entered into a secret arrangement with the Congress for the recent bypolls, he said, “We did not want to spend so much money on bypolls with just 10 months left for the assembly poll and when two national parties were battling it out,” he said, asserting that the list of candidates for the 2018 assembly elections would be announced after discussion at the JD(S) core committee meeting. Mr Kumaraswamy told reporters in Hassan that the  JD(S) was strong enough  to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress in the coming assembly elections.

“How can we forge an alliance with the Congress party, which has no concern for the distress of farmers, who are killing themselves?” he asked.

Dismissing talk that the JD(S) was confined to only seven or eight districts of the state, he claimed it had become stronger in some of the north Karnataka districts where farmers were now rooting for it.

Also, warning the Congress against being too confident following its win in the Nanjangud and Gundlupet bypolls, he recalled although the party had won the 2003 bypolls from Humnabad in Bidar and Hungund in Bagalkot , it lost both seats in the 2004 assemby elections.

 Moving on, he urged the government to complete the Yettinahole project on time.

“The Cabinet's decision to acquire land for the project was taken in November ,but the process has not begun even six months later,” he regretted.

 Mr Deve Gowda, meanwhile, did not rule out the  possibility of veteran Congress leader A.H. Vishwanath joining the JD(S). “We have not discussed this so far. But if need be, we will,”  he said.