Unlike last time when his fight with former chief minister, B.S. Yeddyurappa on alleged land scams was bitter and intense, this time, JD(S) state president H.D. Kumaraswamy’s struggle against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is not a well planned one.
By his own admission, Mr Kumaraswamy says he did not expect the wristwatch row to snowball into a major controversy. He has strong views on the ZP and TP results and the fractured verdict in many of them which has made alliances necessary.
In an interview with Deccan Chronicle, the former CM candidly admitted that a few of his leaders were out to finish the party. Here are excerpts from the interview.
How do you analyse zilla panchayat and taluk panchayat election results?
We have not gone up or come down in this poll. We are where we were. In 2011, we won 718 taluk panchayat seats, this time, we got 610. In all, we got power independently in 28 taluk panchayats in 2011, this time, we will get power in 26. Now we will analyse the ZP results.
Last time, we got 180 seats, this time we have 148. What happened this time was that we had to campaign for the by-polls too. A precious five days had to be devoted to the bypolls. I could not spend much time for zilla panchayat and taluk panchayat elections. In Kolar and Tumakuru, we committed harakiri.
Otherwise, we would have got a clear majority in both districts. The Congress won by giving Rs 500-1000 to each voter. For every seat, Rs 8-10 crore was spent by the ruling party. We did not give a single paisa this time.
At least in 2010, we had given some money to our candidates. This time, we had a fund crunch. This election will not have any bearing on the next assembly polls. Last time, the Bharatiya Janata Party got 600 odd seats in zilla panchayat polls but got only 40 assembly seats.
You are losing popularity and people are slowly distancing themselves from your party. You are not ready to accept the reality. One example is Ramanagar district which you lost. One minister was enough to knock you out.
Since you gave the example of Ramanagar, I will tell you that I did not go there this time. But I went to Kanakapura. I am pained over things happening in Ramanagara. It is because of Balakrishna (Magadi MLA H.D. Balakrishna).
He keeps going there and bad-mouthing me. Our party leaders too did not educate him. Sometime back he had said that if given the district’s responsibility, he would build the party.
So, I promptly gave him the responsibility. Yes, in zilla panchayat elections, we suffered a setback. In 2010, we won almost all seats. But in the 2013 assembly polls, my wife lost.
When S.M. Krishna was the Chief Minister, Congress won 23 of the 28 zilla panchayats, including Hassan. But when the assembly election came, they came down to 62 seats and our tally went upto 58.
There is a minister from Ramanagar who will not only finish you, he will finish your party.
Even before a minister finishes our party, there are some (leaders) in our party who are trying to finish the Janata Dal (Secular). I have kept myself away from the district for tactical reasons. But I am not afraid of anyone.
No one can finish my party. Just because, they have money power, they think they can finish us off. But when we approach the assembly election, the political atmosphere will change. In 2008 and 2013, I filed my nominations but did not go there. Still I won. Now, the atmosphere is bit vitiated.
There is a set pattern in your style. A year before the elections, you turn
idealistic. You say if we give tickets to good candidates, we will win. But, when the elections take place, you mess up. Party leaders accuse you of taking money from potential candidates. If you indulge in such acts, how can the party grow?
(a bit agitated) Where did I take money? Who said this?
Your party leaders say this openly..
In Assembly elections, we do not take money from anyone. People who come to us, we know their condition. We have to give them money. Those who make allegations against me, I know from where they had collected funds. We have
leaders in our party who take money to campaign in particular constituencies.
Who are they?
I know them, but I do not want to name them. They are the ones who level allegations against me. I am the one who gave money to my candidates and campaigned for them. I never took money from anyone.
When there were rumours that your son Nikhil would enter politics, your father and Janata Dal (Secular) president H.D. Deve Gowda gave a promise that none from your family would enter politics in future. Now, you broke the promise, brought Bhavani Revanna into politics quietly.
This time, sons of legislators and the kith and kin of ministers entered politics in almost all districts. Fielding Bhavani was not our family decision. During the MLC election, there was pressure to field her.
We opposed it and we lost the Hassan seat. This time, workers insisted and we made her contest the zilla panchayat polls. In Madhugiri, workers insisted and I had to field my wife (Anita Kumaraswamy) but she lost. To save the party, we took such decisions.
What is your strategy in districts that witnessed a fractured verdict?
We have to consult newly elected zilla panchayat members and local MLAs. I feel we should go with one party across the state. Going with different parties in different districts may damage the party’s image.
As a former Chief Minister, which party is your best ally?
This is my personal opinion and we don’t want to thrust it on our workers. After two and half years of committing so many blunders, the Congress is disliked by people. If we join hands with them, we may earn flak. Whichever party we go with now, the arrangement may not be permanent. Workers are opposed to an alliance with the Congress. We will take a call.
Your party is dubbed opportunistic and power-hungry. The Congress may offer you zilla panchayat president posts in return for forging an alliance. You know this time, the zilla panchayat president post comes with the power of a minister. What will you do?
In zilla panchayats where we have very less seats, if we insist on getting the president posts, people may think we are power hungry. In nine districts, we can join hands with the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party to run the administration. We have to have a give and take policy.
Their party nominee can become president and our candidate can become vice president. And after two-and-a-half years, we can have a reversal of roles. Whichever party we go with, we would like to have talks in detail.
Has any party came forward with an alliance offer?
Feelers are coming from both parties. We are not going to anyone’s house. To run the ZPs, we will decide which is the best option.
