Political Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, May 1: In an unexpected move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first leg of the Karnataka assembly election campaign tour on Tuesday May 1 praised former PM and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda, saying he has immense respect for him.
In his first election rally, Modi said about Deve Gowda, "He is the son of this soil, and I have always respected him. Whenever he asks for my appointment, I happily meet him, I even go to his car to welcome him and walk with him to the car when he leaves."
In Udupi too he repeated the above and also slammed Congress president Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders for not showing enough respect to the senior JD(S) politician.
File Photo
Though JD(S) too is an opposition like the Congress in Karnataka elections, Modi preferred not to attack the Congress and targeted only Rahul Gandhi and chief minister Siddaramaiah.
Modi's move has given strong indications to political pundits that it only 'confirms' the recent allegaton by the Congress that JD(S) was the 'B' team of BJP. Rahul Gandhi had even gone on to state that the 'S' in JD(S) has come to stand for 'Sangh Parivar instead of Secular.
It may be recalled that Deve Gowda had on Monday April 30 said that he would abandon his son Kumaraswamy if he joins BJP to form the government after elections in case of a hung assembly.
Political pundits say that CM Siddaramaiah's statement about HDK meeting with Amit Shah in New Delhi on April 13 has seriously dented the reputation of JD(S), which could even swing some JD(S) minority votes to Congress.
Meanwhile, the Congress was quick to hit back at PM Modi on his allegation of Rahul Gandhi 'disrespecting' Deve Gowda. In tweet, the state Congress said that the entire country has seen the kind of 'respect' Modi has shown to veteral BJP leader L K Advani who had helped him rise in politics.
Chief minister Siddaramaiah too latched on to the opportunity presented by Modi himself to attack the BJP on its 'secret deal' with the JD(S). "Modi has sung praises of Deve Gowda. JD(S)-BJP secret agreement is proved. Modi has criticised me for contesting from two constituencies. Then why did Modi contest Lok Sabha elections from two seats? Was it out of fear?" he tweeted in Kannada.