Deve Gowda backtracks on midterm election comment; says he meant ‘local body polls, not Assembly’

Bengaluru: JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda attempted to clarify a statement he made earlier. The former Prime Minister had said that Karnataka will go for midterm elections. He has now said that he was not referring to Assembly elections but to local body polls.

Earlier, when a reporter asked about midterm elections, Deve Gowda had said, "There is no doubt about it (midterm elections). They are saying we have to rule for five years. But people are watching the behaviour and developments in the government."

The statement was refuted by Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy who said that his father's words were misinterpreted. He said that Deve Gowda was referring to local body elections when he said midterm polls.

Now, clarifying his statement, Deve Gowda also repeated the same phrase and said that he was referring to local body elections in the state and said that government will complete five years.

After meeting AICC president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on June 20, Deve Gowda had said, “I did not initiate formation of the coalition government. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi sent Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ashok Gehlot to Bengaluru. I asked them to make Mallikarjun Kharge the chief minister of Karnataka. But they were adamant that HD Kumaraswamy should be the CM."

The clarification comes after leaders of various political parties including Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president Dinesh Gundu Rao had also said that Congress will support JD(S) for five years and that Deve Gowda would issue a clarification on the midterm election statement.

BJP state president Yeddyurappa had said that instead of confusing people with contrasting statements from coalition leaders, they should step down and stated that the BJP is ready to form the government. At any cost, BJP will not allow midterm election, instead we have 105 MLAs and we will form government, he said.  

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