JD(S) leader and Lok Sabha MP HD Deve Gowda has said that it was necessary to form an alliance with the Congress to keep the ‘communal’ BJP at bay, say media reports. In an interview to India Today, he claimed that he had even offered the chief ministership to the Congress but the latter wanted his son, HD Kumaraswamy, to be the CM. On being asked how his party, a regional player and the one with fewer seats, could get the CM’s post, Deve Gowda insisted that he had told the Congress if they had a candidate for the CM’s post, he would back him instead. He was reminded how BJP chief Amit Shah called the Congress-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka an ‘unholy one’, to which, he said that parties indulge in a lot of name-calling during campaigning and that has to be cast aside if one wants to look ahead

In an interview with The Hindu, he said, “I don’t think, any anti-BJP alliance without the Congress is possible. The Congress will come into the picture one way or the other because of its pan-India presence. If the Congress wins more seats, it will be naturally an ally of any front opposing the BJP and Mr. Modi. But let me clarify that I will not interfere in any of these exercises.”

As to why his party had been inviting all non-BJP leaders for Wednesday’s swearing-in ceremony, Deve Gowda said, “We are inviting leaders of all political parties who are opposed to the BJP. Some may be opposed to the Congress and some may not be. But everybody’s central agenda is keeping BJP away from power in the 2019 polls to the Lok Sabha. I want to bring the leaders of both these groups on one platform, though it is a difficult task…I am confident that this platform will send a signal on the coming together of anti-BJP forces.” He said that unlike allegations that he was power-hungry, “Now, it is time to live up to the image of being the former Prime Minister of the country who stood for the values of secularism. I have to listen to the call of the nation.”