JD-S mounts pressure on BJP ahead of power transfer

By IANS

Bangalore/New Delhi : Six days ahead of the proposed power transfer in Karnataka, the ruling Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) Thursday mounted two-pronged pressure on its partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to accept its terms.


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JD-S president H.D. Deve Gowda and his son, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, took seemingly contradictory stands on the issue, leaving BJP little space to manoeuvre.

Deve Gowda cancelled his meetings with BJP central leaders in New Delhi and rushed back to Bangalore to announce that the political atmosphere was not “healthy” for transfer of power.

Hours later, Kumaraswamy maintained that he will resign on Oct 3 as agreed upon when he joined hands with the BJP in February 2006 to topple the Congress-JD-S coalition and form a JD-S-BJP government in the state.

Visibly upset about allegations of attempt to murder against his son levelled by Tourism Minister B. Sriramulu of BJP, Deve Gowda said: “I am more concerned about my son’s welfare now and not about power transfer.”

“Perhaps this is for the first time in history that such charges are being levelled against a chief minister in the country. How can there be any discussion on power transfer in these circumstances?” he asked.

But Kumaraswamy said: “I will stick to my word and quit on Oct 3. I do not want to go back on my word as my image is important for me.”

Officially, the BJP maintained that power transfer will take place as agreed on Oct 3. But senior party leaders said on condition of anonymity that the father-son combine was working in tandem to force it take action against Sriramulu.

They noted that the seemingly contradictory stand was intended to convey to the BJP that if the JD-S’s terms were not accepted, the BJP cannot expect its support to form the next government.

The leaders said Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy know that the BJP can ill afford to act against Sriramulu as that will send a wrong signal to its supporters.

“It will be big loss of face for the party as it has already suspended party MLC K. Janardhana Reddy for levelling corruption charges against Kumaraswamy,” a senior BJP leader said.

Reddy and Sriramulu are close associates and belong to iron-ore rich Bellary district and are major contributors to the BJP’s kitty.

In New Delhi, Deve Gowda was to meet senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha at 12 noon followed by lunch at BJP president Rajnath Singh’s residence with veteran leader L.K. Advani. Neither appointment worked out.

The former prime minister added that the BJP’s central leadership was keeping mum on such wild allegations, and said unless the party took “action to rein in its ministers” there was no point in talking about power transfer.

In New Delhi, the party’s general secretary Kunwar Danish Ali said: “For the last 20 months BJP men in Karnataka have been harassing our leaders, but the high command here has done nothing.”

Sriramulu alleged that JD-S workers fired at him Tuesday night while campaigning for urban local body polls to be held Friday.

“The firing was at the behest of Kumaraswamy and it was intended to kill me,” he said, threatening a criminal case against the chief minister.

However, the police in Bellary denied any firing incident and accused Sriramulu and Janardhana Reddy of interfering in their efforts to unearth saris and liquor apparently stocked for distribution among voters ahead of Friday’s elections.

The BJP has suspended Janardhana Reddy for charging Kumaraswamy with taking a Rs.15 billion bribe to allow illegal iron-ore mining in Bellary.

On Wednesday Kumaraswamy reacted sharply to Sriramulu’s charges.

“If this is the case now, what will happen after power is handed over to BJP?” he asked during a chat with reporters.

He said it was up to the BJP to ensure the survival of the coalition.

In New Delhi, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the party was “waiting and watching”.

“We don’t want to say anything right now. The local body elections are due Friday in Karnataka and we will speak only after those elections. We are still hopeful of transfer of power on Oct 3.”

BJP state president D.V. Sadananda Gowda told reporters in Mangalore: “It was a gentleman’s agreement to share the chief ministership and we expect JD-S to honour it.”

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