Bengaluru: Deve Gowda stops son H.D. Kumaraswamy from cutting ties with Congress?

Bengaluru: Janata Dal (S) supremo, H.D. Deve Gowda has reportedly advised his son and Chief Minister, H.D. Kumaraswamy not to take any hasty decision on severing ties with the Congress despite the bad blood between the two parties.

Mr Kumaraswamy is said to have met him at his home in Padmanabhanagar after his return from a short stay in a resort in Kodagu, where he reportedly nearly took a decision to call off the coalition arrangement with the Congress in view of the recent attacks on his leadership by some of its partymen, especially those loyal to former Chief Minister and the coalition co-ordination committee chief Siddaramaiah.

Going by sources in the party, Mr Kumaraswamy discussed the issue with two of his ministerial colleagues, Sa Ra Mahesh and C.S. Puttaraju and was ready to severe ties with the Congress and go with the BJP at the end of it , but Mr Deve Gowda advised him against taking such a decision in a hurry. He is said to have pointed out that for one, the BJP itself was reluctant to tie-up with the JD(S) and for another, the Congress could be more malleable if it did not perform well in the parliamentary elections and be persuaded to rein its outspoken leaders.

Mr Gowda recalled that BJP state president, B.S. Yeddyurappa was against the idea of having truck with the JD(S) and had conveyed this to his party's central leadership.

But if the JD(S) supremo is aware of the BJP's reluctance to partner with his party, so are Congress leaders, who are now emboldened and are continuing to bait JD(S), say party insiders.