Bengaluru: Apparently worried over the success of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Mandya on Sunday, JD(S) Supremo and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda convened a meeting of party Legislators and leaders of the district at Bengaluru on Monday, a day after the PM’s visit to Mandya.

Deve Gowda invited JD(S) Legislators and leaders from Mandya district, considered as the bastion of the Party for decades, to his Padmanabhanagar residence and had a over three-hour-long meeting.

MLAs C.S. Puttaraju, D.C. Thammanna, Ravindra Sri-kantaiah, Annadani, Suresh Gowda and M. Srinivas, leaders Appajigowda, D. Ramesh and others were present. Sources said that, during the meeting, the former PM advised the leaders to work with an aim to win all the seven Assembly segments in Mandya district.

Speaking to Star of Mysore’ regarding the meeting that they had with former PM H.D. Deve Gowda  yesterday, Srirangapatna MLA Ravindra Srikantaiah dismissed reports that the JD(S) Supremo convened the meeting in a hurry to discuss the political fallout of Modi’s visit to Mandya. Asserting that the party Legislators and leaders of Mandya district went together to meet H.D. Deve Gowda to discuss with him on the prospects of holding the valedictory rally of JD(S) Pancharatna Yatra at Tubinakere near Mandya on Mar. 26, Ravindra said that, however, Gowda told them that the rally  has already been scheduled to take place at Mysuru on Mar. 26 and all should ensure its success.

Later, they appealed the former PM to hold a road show in Mandya and Srirangapatna ahead of the valedictory rally, to which he replied that he would definitely hold a road show sitting in his car, if only his health permits.

“It is true that Deve Gowda discussed the current Mandya politics with us for some time. He also said that the BJP’s plans to arouse communal feelings by glorifying fictional characters such as Urigowda and Nanjegowda, should be nipped in the bud. He advised us to work out plans to counter the BJP and the Congress by sensitising the voters on the plans, programmes and projects which the JD(S) has given to the people of Mandya when it was in power. He also asserted that farmers and the Vokkaliga community would not ditch the JD(S) for any reason and as such the party leaders of Mandya need not be unduly worried by Modi’s visit. He further suggested that the leaders should focus on development and reaching out to the voters and nothing else,” he said while cautioning them against entering into unnecessary or unwarranted controversies or confusions when the polls are round the corner.

Ravindra Srikantaiah further said that they will work for the success of the JD(S) mega rally to take place at Mysuru on Mar. 26, in which over 10 lakh party workers are expected to take part.