Siddaramaiah, Deve Gowda pitch for unity before bypolls

BENGALURU: Twelve years after they went their separate ways, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda and former chief minister Siddaramaiah came together on one stage to ask the people of Karnataka and workers of their Janata Dal (Secular) and Congress respectively to forget the past and ensure the victory of the alliance in the by-polls.

Addressing a joint press conference, the two veteran leaders said that circumstances had forced them to reunite and ensure that the Bharatiya Janata Party is defeated in the by-polls to three Lok Sabha and two assembly seats to be held on November 3.

Siddaramaiah had quit the JD(S) in 2006 to join the Congress and had severed ties with his onetime leader Deve Gowda. However, the two have tried to mend differences to ensure the smooth functioning of the Congress-jd(s) alliance government in the state.

“For the first time in 12 years, Siddaramaiah and I are on the same stage. In all five seats, we will fight to uphold secularism,” Deve Gowda said. “No matter how we have fought among each other in the past, in these by-polls, we want to mark the beginning of end of communal politics.”

Acknowledging that workers of the two parties, who are direct rivals in the state’s southern districts, might not be enthused by the alliance, he said any concerns would be addressed by leaders.

“I know many of our local leaders might not be able to accept this coalition. But we will work together to ensure that their concerns are addressed. I want to appeal to all local workers to cooperate in this great effort. Please forgive our previous mistakes,” Deve Gowda said.

Siddaramaiah said these bypolls would be the first step towards ensuring the BJP’S defeat in the Lok Sabha elections next year. “With the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in mind and to defeat the communal BJP, all secular forces should unite and not allow votes to split and help the BJP,” he said.

He said even though the BJP’S vote share was lesser than that of the Congress in the recent assembly elections, it won 104 of the 224 seats. It was to keep the BJP out of power that the two parties had joined forces, he added.

“In any election, the BJP cannot win if secular forces unite. Across the country and in the state, we have to stop communal forces from coming to power,” he said. The aim was to win all 28 seats in the state in next year’s general elections, he said.

The former chief minister said while it was true that the two parties had fought against each other during the assembly polls, workers of both parties were united and would never help the BJP make gains.

“Politically and ideologically, our common enemy is the BJP. Defeating them is our responsibility,” he said.

Asked about the recent decision of the Bahujan Samaj Party to not ally with the Congress for the upcoming assembly elections in MP and Rajasthan, Deve Gowda said seat sharing might work in some states and not in others, “but that doesn’t mean that the coalition has collapsed”.

“Nobody had thought that Siddaramaiah and I would sit together, but considering the situation we have come together. And this will bring a new dimension in national politics,” he said.

He added that all secular parties would have to unite either before or after the Lok Sabha polls and that such a coalition would be led by the Congress as it was a national party.

Reacting to the press conference, the BJP’S local unit put out a series of tweets criticising it as an attempt to save two families.