Bengaluru, Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda on Saturday dismissed talks about his Janata Dal-Secular's merger with the BJP as "childish" and asserted that his party will strive to come to power on its own in the 2023 Assembly polls in Karnataka.

Breaking his silence for the first time on the buzz of his party's likely merger with the BJP, Gowda quipped that the "entertainment programmes aired by TVs were nice but the reality is entirely different".

"These are all childish talks (on merger) and nothing else. Do you think that as a former Prime Minister, I will take my party to someone's doorsteps?"

"Now, please stop this. For the last three months, several things have been said about our party. Speculations must end here. That is why I am making it clear to everyone that JD-S is not going anywhere; we are working on a plan to make a comeback to power on our own in 2023," he said.

To a specific question on the merger issue, Gowda retorted: "Which astrologer has predicted this?"

He said that it was not just a question of Deve Gowda or his sons but of thousands of JD-S workers who are working day and night to save this party not only during his lifetime, but even after him.

In response to another question, Gowda caustically remarked that the Congress is a big party and it has the wherewithal to bring the party to power.

"I don't claim that we have that kind of wherewithal, but we will strive for it. This time, we will not sit quiet. There is no question, we will fight to come back to power in 2023," he said.

After the collapse of the Congress-JD-S coalition government headed by HD Kumarswamy in 2019, rumours mills started about possibility of JD-S's merger with BJP. The rumours gained credence after Kumarswamy abruptly decided to support the contentious farm bills passed in the Assembly last month.

After the BJP formed its government in the state in 2019, JD-S leaders, including Gowda and his son, have asserted on a number of occasions that their party will not try to dislodge BS Yediyurappa this time.