Bangalore: The knives are out! The paterfamilias of the Janata Dal (S) H.D. Deve Gowda, and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sparred openly for the first time after the latter ascended the top post in Karnataka.
The provocation? In an interview to a national television channel last week, Siddaramaiah sarcastically dismissed Deve Gowda as an “old man in a hurry” and said that the JD (S) and BJP would only win two-three seats in the state in next year’s elections to Lok Sabha.
On Thursday, Gowda hit back, saying, “I am an old man in a hurry, not to become the prime minister but to bring my party back to power in the state. This is my pledge. I accept the challenge (thrown at me by Siddaramaiah). There is an anti-Congress wave in the country.”
He did not stop there. He criticised the chief minister for announcing a slew of schemes for the benefit of AHINDA — Alpasankhyatharu, Hindulidavargadavaru mathu Dalitaru — a Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalit communities, adding “Siddaramaiah should visit rural areas to understand the problems of farmers.”
The chief minister, in turn, mocked at Gowda saying: “At this ripe age, I do not why Gowda needs a Third Front.”
