Belagavi: A day after he met BJP leader and Chairman of the Legislative Council, D H Shankarmurthy, JDS supremo, H D Deve Gowda asserted on Friday that he expected his party leader, Basavaraj Horatti, elected for a record seventh term as MLC from the teachers’ constituency, to replace him.
Speaking to reporters here, he said considering the feat that Horatti has achieved, he should become Chairman without any opposition. “But should elections take place for the Chairman's post, the JDS will support Mr Shankarmurthy,” he added, warning that his party would not spare any of its MLCs if they cross-voted in the poll.
While refusing to comment on the ongoing unrest in the Congress following the Cabinet reshuffle, he, however , said he was surprised to see a popular leader like Mr Satish Jarkiholi being dropped from the ministry.
Mr Jarkiholi had helped Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his family , including his wife and son with money, vehicles and valuables a few years ago. But off late relations between him and the Chief Minister seem to have deteriorated,'' he added. While he admitted that Mr Jarkiholi and other sacked ministers, M H Ambarish, and Srinivasprasad had met him, he said he had not invited them to join his party.
In response to a query, he ruled out the possibility of the JDS tying up with any other party in state for the next assembly elections and asserted it would field candidates in all 224 constituencies. ”Our party can never be written off in an election,” he declared.
Accusing the Siddaramaiah government of plunging Karnataka into a deep crisis, he wondered why the Chief Minister could not control expenses, which had put the state in huge debt.
