JD (S) plans rallies in Karnataka to counter VHP

Determined to resurrect the secular image of the JD (S), party supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda deplored the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)-sponsored rallies taking place across Karnataka and declared that the JD (S) would organize parallel rallies to uphold secularism.

Addressing the party’s national executive meeting in Bangalore, Gowda said the parallel rallies of the JD (S) would begin after the on-going Virata Hindu Samaveshas conclude on February 12. “We will take this as a challenge and organize rallies. We too can organize such rallies to ensure communal harmony”, Gowda told the party delegates

Sending a strong signal to the delegates that the party had not compromised on its secular ideology despite forging an alliance with the BJP in Karnataka, Gowda sought to make it clear that the BJP must remain committed to the common minimum programme of the coalition Government if the saffron party wishes to take over the post of Chief Minister after the incumbent H D Kumaraswamy’s term comes to an end during October this year.

“The BJP has every right to propagate Hindutva or Ram Temple issue at the national level. But, in Karnataka this Government should be committed to the framework of the common minimum programme”, he said.

Cautioning the BJP against peddling Hindutva in Karnataka while being a partner in the coalition Government, Gowda said the common minimum programme should be the BJP’s “Bible, Quran and Bhagavadgita” in Karnataka.

Gowda dedicated a major part of his address at the party’s national executive to deploring the Sangh Parivar’s efforts to misinterpret Hindutva. He quoted extensively passages of Rabindranath Tagore, Tulsidas, S Radhakrishnan, Vivekananda and Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel among others to buttress his argument.

Gowda’s tirade against the Sangh Parivar and the rider he set for transfer of power from the JD (S) to the BJP has touched a raw nerve in the BJP with Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, who is tipped to take over from Kumaraswamy during October this year, openly expressing his resentment.

Speaking to reporters after participating in a function at Arasikere in Karnataka, Yediyurappa said Gowda’s statement had created unnecessary confusion and sought a clarification in the regard from Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.