Cong betrayed Muslims; I will ensure top position for BM Farooq: Gowda

Bengaluru, Jun 13: The JD(S)?has decided to portray the defeat of its Rajya Sabha candidate B?M?Farooq as a betrayal of the Muslims by the Congress and will launch a statewide campaign to prove its point.

JD(S) national president H?D?Deve Gowda announced the decision at a well-attended convention of party office-bearers and leaders at Palace Grounds in Bengaluru on Sunday. The JD(S)' decision to play the betrayal card comes a day after eight of its MLAs defied party whip to vote for K?C?Ramamurthy of the Congress in polls to the Upper House.

Speaking at the convention, 84-year old Gowda showed no sign of helplessness or anger.

The JD(S) supremo said he will launch the campaign from Mangaluru, the home town of Farooq, from June 21 and cover the entire state. “The Congress has betrayed 75 lakh Muslims in the state by colluding with 8 legislators of our party to ensure the defeat of Farooq. The Congress gave no representation to Muslims in the RS polls,”?Gowda said.

To groom new leaders

The former prime minister said he was unfazed by the cross-voting eight rebels had cross-voted. “Let us see if any of them can win in the next Assembly polls. I take it as a challenge. I?will personally groom new leaders in each of their constituencies,” he said.

Gowda said he always suspected that the trio - MLAs Zameer Ahmed Khan, N?Chaluvarayaswamy and H?C?Balakrishna - wanted to finish his son and JD(S)?state president H?D?Kumaraswamy off politically. “I had warned Kumaraswamy that it is better to trust an open enemy than a false friend.” ?

Potshots at?BSY

Gowda also took potshots at BJP?state president B?S?Yeddyurappa for seeking the “support” of the Congress to get the party's second candidate in the polls to the Legislative Council, Lehar Singh, elected.

“Yeddyurappa speaks about winning 150 seats in the 2018 Assembly polls but stoops down to seek the support of the Congress for just one Council seat. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is speaking about Congress-free' country, but Yeddyurappa seems to be on a Save Congress' mode,” Gowda said.

Top position for Farooq

Gowda said he will ensure a top political position for Farooq in the coming days. “Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Energy Minister D?K?Shivakumar had threatened Farooq that his business will be destroyed, if he does not withdraw from the polls. But, he stayed with us. I?will not betray him,” Gowda said.

Roadmapfor JD(S) revival

?To groom new leaders in constituencies represented by eight rebels

Statewide campaign from June 21 starting from Mangaluru

?To rebuild the JD(S) from the grassroots

?To expose the “misdeeds”of the Congress and the BJP