Despite making an appearance on the national stage, alongside BSP chief Mayawati, at the insistence of his father H D Deve Gowda, former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Thursday insisted that he would remain in state politics.Going back to a tried-and-trusted policy of equidistance from both the BJP and the Congress, Kumaraswamy — who allied with the BJP in 2006 — said that the JD(S) had not rejected the Congress, but some of their leaders had developed an aversion to the JD(S). “I will be restricted to Karnataka, but a third force is needed in the country. In the coming days, we will fight the Congress and the BJP together, with not just the BSP but also other smaller parties. I will frequently travel to Delhi for meetings,” he said.Deve Gowda’s decision to push Kumaraswamy on to the national stage has prompted JD(S) insiders to see a strategy where Gowda’s two sons are being given separate responsibilities — H D Revanna in Karnataka and Kumaraswamy on the national stage. Kumaraswamy said he perceived Mayawati and the BSP as a key force in Karnataka despite the fact that BSP’s performance in the 2008 state polls took a beating compared to 2004.“The polls of 2004 and 2008 are not important. It is a Dalit leader like Mayawati who is important. I see the BSP as a growing party in Karnataka,” Kumaraswamy said.He denied reports that his father had lobbied for a ministerial position for himself as a condition for supporting the UPA in the trust vote or that Gowda had sought a regulation of the mining industry in Bellary to curb the money power of the BJP.“The Congress has many leaders who have an allergy towards us. We will not go behind the Congress,” he said while reacting to a question on whether the bonhomie between the JD(S) and Congress — seen during the Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council polls — had ended.Following the Rajya Sabha and the Council polls — where the JD(S) and the Congress worked for mutual benefits — Deve Gowda had stated that a long-term tie-up with the Congress had been reached. While the trust vote has changed JD(S)’s dynamics the most, small changes have also taken place in the BJP and the Congress.
