Don't think Modi wants to destabilise Karnataka govt, says HD Deve Gowda; JD(S) patriarch accuses BS Yeddyurappa of causing trouble

Bengaluru: Senior JD(S) leader HD Deve Gowda Monday said he did not think Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished to destabilise the ruling coalition in Karnataka, but sought to know whether Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah was guiding the state unit to do so. “Whether the party President (Shah) is guiding them or…I dont think the Prime Minister wants to destabilise, he has got some responsibility,” Gowda told reporters in Bengaluru. [caption id=“attachment_4497559” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of HD Deve Gowda. AFP[/caption] “However, attempts were being made by the BJP’s state unit under the leadership of its chief BS Yeddyurappa. BJP is a national party, if the state party (unit) is moving forward, in other words it means they have the permission of the central party,” the JD(S) supremo alleged. Speaking to reporters, he said, “the state unit normally…the leader of the Opposition and the party (state) president (Yeddyurapa) who was there for three days as chief minister, naturally he has been hurt, having lost the gaddi (seat) of Chief Minister in three days, so it is natural…” Yeddyurappa, the leader of the single largest party, took over as chief minister following the May, 2018 polls that threw up a hung verdict. But with defeat staring him in the face, he announced his decision to quit on the floor of the Assembly during the 19 May floor test. Gowda’s comments gained significance as several coalition leaders, including Coordination Committee chief and former chief minister Siddaramaiah, had charged Modi along with Shah trying to destabilise the coalition government, as they fear getting just three or four seats in the coming Lok Sabha polls. “Not only state leaders of BJP, central leaders of the party, including Modi, Shah and central Ministers were involved in attempts to destabilise the coalition government,” he had alleged soon after the recent Congress Legisltature Party meeting, amid alleged attempts by BJP to poach its MLAs. Stating that the coalition government was in a “coma”, BJP had expressed doubts whether chief minister HD Kumaraswamy would even present his government’s second budget on 8 February. Senior BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka had claimed that 20 to 25 disgruntled MLAs of the alliance were out of reach of their leaders.