A file photo of former PM and JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda
Credit: PTI Photo
Pandavapura: "I will fight till my last breath. This is the nature of Deve Gowda. I have never said that I would retire from politics. Now, I am fighting for Nikhil Kumaraswamy's victory", said Rajya Sabha Member and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda.
He was speaking, after inaugurating a PU College hostel, of STG Educational Institution, owned by former minister C S Puttaraju, at Elekere village, in Pandavapura taluk, on Friday.
Targeting the Congress-led Karnataka government, Deve Gowda said, "I have never seen such a hopeless government in my 62-year political career. I will fight tirelessly for the survival of the state. There is no question of stopping, until the government is removed".
Reacting to the Congress leaders mocking Nikhil for shedding tears, Deve Gowda said, "Have you ever seen D K Shivakumar, who started working with Kothwal Ramachandra for Rs 100, shedding tears for farmers and the people of the state? Congress once had leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. But, will Shivakumar, who is the current president, ever shed a tear?"
"Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy and Nikhil shed tears when the farmer, who feeds the nation is hurt. Tears are an inheritance in our family", Gowda said.
It is unfair to compare Shivakumar with Kumaraswamy. It was Kumaraswamy, who declared Ramanagar as a district. Now, Shivakumar is saying that it will benefit if Ramanagar is merged with Bengaluru. We don't know what he has in mind, he said.
Rajya Sabha former member Kupendra Reddy, DCC Bank director Shyadanahalli Chaluvaraju, Guruswamy and V S Ningegowda were present.
Deve Gowda was scheduled to unveil his 9-ft tall statue, installed at Ruthvik Akshay Convention Hall, constructed by a JD(S) party worker, at Elekere village. However, he refused to inaugurate it and asked the organisers to request MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, who was supposed to attend the programme, to do the unveiling.