Congress MLA from Channapatna C.P. Yogeshwar’s remarks on getting all the Janata Dal-Secular legislators to quit and join the Grand Old Party has stirred a fresh row in Karnataka.
“Let the party assign me the task and I will empty the JDS party within 15 days The JD(S) legislators are anxious about the future of their party,” Yogeshwar had claimed during an interview to a private channel.
In a show of strength, the JD(S) legislators held a joint press meet in Bengaluru, on Wednesday where they cautioned the Congress party against the ‘partyhopper’ and the “Man behind Operation Lotus”.
“Yogeshwar, who was in the BJP, had planned to poach 30 Congress legislators as soon as the Congress party came to power in the state in May 2023. It is better for the Congress to exercise caution in dealing with such a person,” said JDLP leader Suresh Babu.
Yogeshwar who defeated NDA candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy in the Channapatna bypolls by 26,000 votes also claimed that the JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister HD Devegowda and his son Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy had lost their clout in Old Mysore region- the Vokkaliga heartland. Justifying his statement, Yogeshwar had stated that the regional party’s survival was at stake.
“The JDS lost in the bypolls fought under the leadership of Kumaraswamy and Devegowda. Kumaraswamy could not ensure his son’s victory. He should give up the Vokkaliga leadership to others. The people have rejected them. So, I have asked the JD(S) MLAs to join the Congress party as there is no future in the regional party. No community is backing the JD(S) today. The Devegowda family’s clout in Old Mysore region is waning. Senior JD(S) MLAs are apprehensive of the party’s survival and relevance,” claimed Yogeshwar, hinting that the Vokkaliga community no longer supported the party just like the minorities had drifted away from the party once considered as “secular” and an alternative to the Congress party.
Former minister H.D. Revanna said JD(S) had survived many storms. “In 1989-90, I and my father (Devegowda) lost the elections and the JD(S) had won only two seats – Kolar (Byregowda) and HD Kote (Venkatesh). People had written off Devegowda. But within a year, Devegowda got elected to the Parliament. In 1994, he led the party to power in the state by winning 117 seats. All of us in the family and the party have tasted defeat. But no one can destroy the party,” said Revanna.
“If only Kumaraswamy had listened to Modi in 2004 and 2008, the political landscape of this state would have been different. He should not have heeded to me and my father,” said Revanna, referring to JD(S) forming a coalition with the Congress in 2004 and withdrawing support to the coalition with BJP in 2008.
