‘Hadn’t sought ticket’: Kumaraswamy on Rajya Sabha berth for Deve Gowda

“Now, the Congress is showing compassion for Deve Gowda. But, we all know how Congress treated him during his political career,” Kumaraswamy said.

Such attempts, according to the Union minister, were to “bring cracks in the coalition.” “Had we applied for the Rajya Sabha seat? Has Deve Gowda asked for the ticket? … The BJP has 60 MLAs. If we ask for the RS ticket, what will people think about Deve Gowda?” he said, adding that the senior leader would raise issues about the state irrespective of whether he was in power or not.

He added that the Congress was making statements sympathising with Gowda because it is nervous about its prospects in the 2028 Karnataka Assembly elections.

On Congress’s claims that it had backed Deve Gowda in the 2020 Rajya Sabha polls, Kumaraswamy asked whether the Congress had the numbers to secure a win for its second candidate then. In the four seats for which polls were held, the BJP had the numbers to win two seats, while Congress had the strength to win only one.

“(Former CM BS) Yediyurappa had called me then and informed me that the party would not field a candidate,” he said.

On claims that denying a ticket to Gowda amounted to an injustice to the Vokkaliga community, Kumaraswamy pointed out that D K Shivakumar, who hails from the community, is the Karnataka Chief Minister.