HD Deve Gowda goes soft on Yediyurappa, says he won’t fall even after bypolls

Kalaburagi: Continuing his soft approach vis-a-vis the B.S. Yediyurappa government, JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda on Monday declared that there would be little threat to the BJP government even after the December 5 by-polls.

“Why should Mr Yediyurappa bother about the survival of his government? We (Congress and JD-S) will not join hands again. I don't have to analyse how the previous coalition government fell. The legislators who quit the Congress have themselves made it clear who instigated them to leave the party. I don't need to have a relationship with the Congress anymore,” he asserted.

However, Mr Gowda hastened to add that if it all Mr Yediyurappa faced a threat, it was from within his own party. “ The BJP has formed the government through nefarious ways. There are rumblings within the BJP about distribution of bypoll tickets. I don't know what shape they will take; it's for their high command to decide,” he remarked.

On how many bypoll seats the JDS was planning to contest in the by-elections, the former PM candidly admitted that his party was in a position to give a strong fight in only four -five seats of the total 15. “In the remaining seats, we do not have a strong presence but will still field candidates,” he disclosed.

On what would be the strategy of JD(S) in constituencies where it has no strong presence, he, “Ask those who are saying they will win all 15 seats. If they win all 15 seats, I will bow my head. Neither of the two national parties can win all 15 seats. I have been in politics for so long...do I not understand the ground situation?”