Can you not see that I am fit, asks Deve Gowda, as he campaigns for his grandson in Channapatna

“I have not come either in an ambulance or a wheelchair. Can you not see that I am keeping well?” Janata Dal (Secular) supremo and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda asked the crowd at Kodamballi in the Channapatna Assembly constituency, where he was campaigning for his grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy on Tuesday.

The 91-year-old’s response was to an earlier taunt by former MP for Bangalore Rural D.K. Suresh who had said Mr. Gowda comes in an ambulance for campaigning. He compared himself with former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, 92, and said, arriving on stage helped by two of his bodyguards, “Age may affect body but not will power.”

Mr. Gowda is among the two nonagenarians who are still active politicians in the State, with Congress legislator for Davangere South Shamanur Shivashankarappa, 93, being the other. “Those who have emotions cry and those heartless don’t cry,” he further said, a remark that came after Congress mocked Mr. Nikhil Kumaraswamy for weeping during campaign.

On Tuesday, the JD(S) supremo hit the campaign trail at Channapatna, which is going for the bypolls on November 13, to canvass for Mr. Nikhil Kumaraswamy, who is testing his luck in electoral politics for the third time and is pitted against C.P. Yogeshwar of the Congress. Mr. Nikhil Kumaraswamy, the NDA candidate, is contesting for the seat vacated by his father and Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy after his election from the Mandya parliamentary seat.

Association with Ramanagara

Having been associated with Ramanagara politics for over four decades now, Mr. Gowda remains popular in Channapatna, which is part of the Vokkaliga heartland, for his contribution to building the Iggalur barrage. Water has remained a big issue in this bypolls with both the JD(S) and the Congress taking credit for solving water woes, while the BJP has been insisting that the funds for the tank-filling scheme came during its tenure.

The party supremo’s entry into the bypoll battle, the JD(S) workers hope, will provide impetus to their campaign.

Responding to the Congress portraying him to be an “outsider”, the veteran politician, who saw his political revival in 1994 from Ramanagara, said, “Whatever I have contributed to this taluk stands as evidence. The Congress is spreading lies for political gain. I hope such rotten politics does not continue in this State.”

He accused the Congress of being a party that belongs to “the mother and her family and no one else”, in an apparent reference to Sonia Gandhi. In the same breath, the former Prime Minister justified fielding his grandson. “People ask why I fielded my grandson. Nikhil was forced to contest due to circumstances that emerged after he [Mr. Yogeshwar] refused to contest on the JD(S) ticket and went to the Congress.”

‘To repay debt’

The former Prime Minister said that he would campaign till November 11 “to repay the debt of mothers who have served food”. Among those in the crowd was Satish S. who said, “I am surprised at the way he is still taking part in politics at his age. I just came to see him.” A bunch of schoolgirls in their teens, returning home, also tried to catch a glimpse of the veteran leader after a curious one among them realised the crowd had gathered for Mr. Gowda.

Published - November 05, 2024 10:19 pm IST