When you Gowda go
The winds of secularism incite the Karnataka strongman within hours to vow that he will continue to fight against the BJP.
What is common between the weather and Deve Gowda, former prime minister and chief of Karnataka’s Janata Dal (Secular)? No prizes for guessing that they are both unpredictable. So, Deve Gowda blows hot about unhitching his wagon from the BJP’s barely weeks ago. And now blows cold about hitching to the self-same wagon. The winds of secularism incite the Karnataka strongman within hours to vow that he will continue to fight against the BJP. For good measure, he has decided that it does his temperature no good to be seen in the Congress’s company either.
A politician of lesser mettle, and much less fodder, can be forgiven for being confused over what Deve Gowda really means. The 123 of the current deal (no, not that uranium one even if Deve Gowda will easily carry the monicker ‘power reactor’) is that the BJP is all set to get its first Chief Minister in southern India as a fallout of a reprocessed script rather than any political acumen. Sensing no returns on his ‘secular’ tag from the tie-up with the BJP, the JD(S) snapped the link three weeks ago, sending the saffron brigade into a tizzy. A senior JD(S) leader tried to quickly liaise with the Congress to avoid snap elections, which led Daddy Gowda to suspect attempts to split the JD(S). Fearing which, in a volte-face, the JD(S) decided to waltz down the aisle with the BJP again. Senior Gowda was clearly not caught napping this time around. Upshot, Ekta Kapoor has sent out a special team to recruit Mr Gowda for his typhoon-in-the-teacup capabilities.
Amid all this, Mr Gowda has asserted he “will maintain equidistance with both the Congress and the BJP”. That could mean close to both, or, close to neither. In reality, the truth is probably far from either. But don’t take our word for it. To know more, watch the next episode of Kahani Gowda-Gowda ki.
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