GTD’s presence at Modi events surprises everyone

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT
Mysuru

The appearance of Chamundeshwari Janata Dal (Secular) MLA G T Deve Gowda at the functions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mysuru on Monday has created a political storm.

Till recently, Deve Gowda had planned to join the Congress Party and had held a preliminary discussion with Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah whom he had beaten in the 2018 Assembly polls by a margin over 35,000 votes.

Gowda had put a condition that he would join the Congress party provided his son, Harish Gowda is given the ticket from either K.R. Nagar or Hunsur. But Siddaramaiah had told him that he cannot assure him anything since the allotment of tickets is done by the high command.

In the meantime, the BJP has extended the red carpet to Gowda with sitting MLA of Chamaraja constituency, L Nagendra offering to vacate his seat for Harish. But, Gowda had remained non-commital on both offers.

On Monday, Deve Gowda was present when Modi arrived in a special chopper at the Sports ground opposite University of Mysore. He was also present when Modi launched a slew of development works. Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai mentioned Deve Gowda’s name in his speech (and told the audience not to mistake Deve Gowda with the former PM).

Even Modi mentioned Deve Gowda’s name while addressing the audience. There are enough indications that Deve Gowda wants to return to the BJP with which he was associated earlier. If Deve Gowda joins the saffron party it would a double whammy for the BJP which wants to extend its base in the Old Mysore region.

The ruling party is reportedly ready to give the poll ticket to his son from any constituency in the district. According to sources, the Chamundeshwari MLA feels that with the Congress Party not taking a strident pro-Hindu stance, it would be difficult for him to win from the constituency which has a large number of Hindu voters.