Ex-Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy clarifies on JD(S)-BJP merger buzz

Amid speculations of the merger of Janata DalSecular with the BJP former Karnataka Chief Minister and JDSBJP candidate HD Kumaraswamy said on Saturday that if everything goes smoothly there is no question of JDS being absorbed into the BJP and they will work togetherIn an exclusive interview with ANI Kumaraswamy said There is no question of merging our party with any other party Categorically I am telling you There is no question If the BJP treats us well and everything goes smoothly there is no question of JDS being absorbed into the BJP We will work togetherI would like to tell Siddaramaiah that even if 100 Siddaramaiahs come against us they cant do anything to our party They cant damage it he said Going back in time in 2006 Kumaraswamy rebelled and walked out of the JDSCongress coalition with 42 MLAs reportedly against the wishes of his father former PM and JDS patriarch HD Deve Gowda citing a threat to the party and formed the government with the BJPHe was asked whether inviting Deve Gowda to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony can be considered a personal connection between PM Modi and Deva Goda which led to the BJPJDS alliance Kumaraswamy elaborated on the dynamics between PM Modi and Deve Gowda stating When Narendra Modi ji entered national politics at that time Deve Gowda was one of the main critics of Modis national entryThen despite whatever he said at that time after Modi Ji became PM he went to meet him Deve Gowda ji wanted to resign from his MP constituency but Narendra Modi ji advised him that his advice was required and he must continue in parliament This is the respect shown by the Prime Minister for Deve Gowda ji After assuming the role of Prime Minister they met several times and each time the PM showed respect to Deve Gowda ji and sought his adviceHe also discussed Deve Gowdas political journey In 2018 Deve Gowda ji joined hands with Congress Throughout his career of 6062 years he has always aligned with secular forces By using regional parties Congress has destroyed several regional parties Congress has humiliated Deve Gowda ji in several waysIn 1995 when this United Front supported Devagoda Ji as a PM candidate they the Congress did not When they removed him they had no reason at all Even at that time he also supported Inder Kumar Gujral In 2004 again they ditched Deve Gowda Ji That time also he respected Congress even though at that time Arun Jaitley met him to join hands with BjP Deve Gowda ji rejected it At that time he also joined hands with Congress and after joining he watched how they treated him for 20 months Even at that time the health of Deve Gowda Ji deteriorated he addedHe said Then in 2009 he joined hands with the third front That is a different issue Then even after Deve Gowda ji handed over the power to the BJP at that time again his Congress friend wanted to split our party Continuously they were trying to destroy our party Even after this Deve Gowda Ji joined hands with Congress only When asked why his party did that he said he made several wrong decisions by trusting his Congress friends I am totally against Congress I know how they are going to treat us and how they treated me as the Chief MinisterHitting back at the Congress remark where it slammed the JD S for joining hands with the NDA and opined that the party should write to the Election Commission and drop the word secular from their partys name Kumaraswamy said What is the meaning of secularism I wanted to question the Congress Every day they are misusing the caste composition they are using the caste composition and they wanted to get benefit from it for their partyAccording to me there is no meaning to secularism or communalism For example lets talk about DMK They joined hands with the Centre with both the Congress and the BJP Whatever the reason was they took the decision in their own interest not for secularism or communalism he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever