advertisement
Congress president Rahul Gandhi said he had nothing personal against former prime minister and Janata Dal (Secular) chief HD Deve Gowda.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Gandhi said:
Gandhi, addressing a rally in Hassan, had called the JD(S) the “B-team of BJP,” eliciting a strong response from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Congress said Gandhi had not shown any “disrespect” towards Gowda, as alleged by Modi.
Hitting back, the party said it was Modi who “disrespected” his two predecessors (Manmohan Singh and Gowda) and sought an apology from him for it.
Sharma alleged there was an "opportunistic understanding and unholy nexus" with the JD(S) that the prime minister and BJP chief Amit Shah had sought and created. That was the reason a question had been asked and criticism levelled, he said.
He insisted that Modi apologise for repeatedly insulting former prime minister Manmohan Singh who was “one of the most respected elders, leaders and statesmen.”
A day after Prime Minister Modi lavished praise on him at an election rally in Karnataka, Deve Gowda on Wednesday, 2 May, sought to play it down, saying it did not mean both parties were cosying up to each other.
Gowda also slammed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for suggesting that his party would back the BJP. He claimed that it was Siddaramaiah who wanted to become chief minister in 2004 with the support of the saffron party when he was with the JD(S).
Virtually endorsing Modi's criticism of Rahul Gandhi for having 'insulted' him, the JD(S) supremo also said a Kannadiga had become prime minister and "Siddaramaiah tried to demolish Kannadigas' pride.”
"This is how the Congress gives respect to Kannada pride," Gowda, who was the prime minister heading the United Front government at the Centre during 1996-97, told a press conference in Bengaluru.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)