<p>Bengaluru: Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday entered the Channapatna bypoll campaign trail by calling upon voters to "break the arrogance" of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, once his protege. </p><p>Being a central minister, when H D Kumaraswamy sought land from the state government to establish an industry, the chief minister is so arrogant that he said he won't give the land.</p><p>"I request you all to give us the power to break that arrogance of the chief minister in this bypoll," he urged. </p>.Karnataka BJP alleges Rs 700-cr liquor scam, seeks excise minister's ouster.<p>On Day One, he covered four gram panchayats and at every point, villagers gathered in large numbers to see Gowda, the JD(S) supremo, as he sought votes for his grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy and asserted that he would come to Channapatna every day till November 11 and campaign for Nikhil. </p><p>Clarifying about the decision to field his grandson, Gowda said it was in response to the demand from party workers.</p><p>Calling Congress candidate C P Yogeshwar as a 'converted gentleman,' Gowda said, "when we offered the converted Congress gentleman an option to contest from the BJP itself as a NDA candidate, he said no and switched to the Congress. Finally, because of the pressure from JD(S) workers, we decided on Nikhil as NDA candidate." </p>.<p>The former prime minister assured the voters of Channapatna that Nikhil would dedicate himself to the service of the people and urged them to support him. </p><p>Gowda indirectly slammed former Bangalore Rural MP D K Suresh for the remarks about his health.</p><p>“I haven’t come here on a ventilator or ambulance. Except for knee pain, I’m absolutely fine with your blessings. I am here to show you that I am well," he said. </p>.<p>Reacting to comments by Congress leaders about tears shed by his grandson Nikhil, the former PM said, "Tears come only to those with emotion. The hard-hearted don't cry."</p><p>Referring to the DK brothers as "unique brothers," Gowda sarcastically said, "For the past six months, one has been saying, he will contest from Channapatna. Where is he now? I won’t take their names because if I do, they’ll mock me, saying Deve Gowda came on a ventilator to give a speech. But here I am, sitting before you without a ventilator and my hands aren’t shaking."</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday entered the Channapatna bypoll campaign trail by calling upon voters to "break the arrogance" of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, once his protege. </p><p>Being a central minister, when H D Kumaraswamy sought land from the state government to establish an industry, the chief minister is so arrogant that he said he won't give the land.</p><p>"I request you all to give us the power to break that arrogance of the chief minister in this bypoll," he urged. </p>.Karnataka BJP alleges Rs 700-cr liquor scam, seeks excise minister's ouster.<p>On Day One, he covered four gram panchayats and at every point, villagers gathered in large numbers to see Gowda, the JD(S) supremo, as he sought votes for his grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy and asserted that he would come to Channapatna every day till November 11 and campaign for Nikhil. </p><p>Clarifying about the decision to field his grandson, Gowda said it was in response to the demand from party workers.</p><p>Calling Congress candidate C P Yogeshwar as a 'converted gentleman,' Gowda said, "when we offered the converted Congress gentleman an option to contest from the BJP itself as a NDA candidate, he said no and switched to the Congress. Finally, because of the pressure from JD(S) workers, we decided on Nikhil as NDA candidate." </p>.<p>The former prime minister assured the voters of Channapatna that Nikhil would dedicate himself to the service of the people and urged them to support him. </p><p>Gowda indirectly slammed former Bangalore Rural MP D K Suresh for the remarks about his health.</p><p>“I haven’t come here on a ventilator or ambulance. Except for knee pain, I’m absolutely fine with your blessings. I am here to show you that I am well," he said. </p>.<p>Reacting to comments by Congress leaders about tears shed by his grandson Nikhil, the former PM said, "Tears come only to those with emotion. The hard-hearted don't cry."</p><p>Referring to the DK brothers as "unique brothers," Gowda sarcastically said, "For the past six months, one has been saying, he will contest from Channapatna. Where is he now? I won’t take their names because if I do, they’ll mock me, saying Deve Gowda came on a ventilator to give a speech. But here I am, sitting before you without a ventilator and my hands aren’t shaking."</p>