D V Sadananda Gowda.
DH Photo/ S K Dinesh
Bengaluru: Putting to rest speculations that he may cross over to Congress after BJP denied him the ticket to contest the elections, former chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Thursday asserted that he would not leave the BJP, but vowed to ‘purify’ the saffron party in Karnataka, along with ‘like-minded’ forces after the elections.
After postponing his press meet twice since Monday, Gowda told reporters that he was upset with the party over denying him the ticket.
“Certainly, I am upset with the decision to drop me from list of candidates. But that does not mean I will quit the BJP and join another party. I did receive an open invitation from the Congress. But, I politely declined their offer,” he said.
Underlining that his aim was to ensure PM Modi’s return to power, the former CM said that the BJP had given him all posts. So, he did not feel like leaving the party at this juncture.
Attacking leaders R Ashoka, Basavaraj Bommai & Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, Gowda said these leaders had come to his house after he announced retirement and pressured him to reconsider decision.
“I reconsidered my decision and only my name was recommended to the BJP central leadership by the state unit. When a new name cropped up (Shobha Karandlaje), none of these leaders objected to it there (Delhi). This is what pains me and embarrassed me,” Gowda said.
Taking a sly dig at at BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and BJP veteran B S Yediyurappa, Gowda said he would join hands with ‘like-minded people’ to purify BJP in state, which is committing the same mistakes as during Assembly polls. He said the BJP had completely neglected Vokkaligas in these elections by allocating just a single Lok Sabha seat.
“Of the 20 seats for which candidates have been announced, 9 have gone to a single community (Lingayats), while BJP has borrowed a Vokkaliga (Dr C N Manjunath) from JD(S) and given him a ticket. Does this mean Vokkaligas in BJP aren’t capable?,” he said.