Bengaluru: Former Prime Minister and JD(S) Supremo H.D. Deve Gowda has revealed that he received an offer from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to merge his party JD(S) with Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) (Janata Dal – United) and join the I.N.D.I.A, a bloc of Opposition parties. However, he declined the offer, citing his age and his reluctance to take any political risks at this point in his life.

Gowda made this revelation during an interview with a news organisation, following his party’s decision to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He explained, “About three to four months ago, Nitish Kumar approached me with the idea of forming a Janata Freedom Front, which would involve all the splinter groups of Janata Dal, including JD(U), JD(S) and Samajwadi Party (SP). Later, he proposed the idea of merging JD(S) with JD(U) and joining I.N.D.I.A. bloc. However, I declined both offers,” he said. 

“At 91 years old, I have no interest in taking on any political roles. Furthermore, I am well aware of how the Congress let me down in the past. Therefore, I am not open to any experiments at this stage of my life,” clarified Gowda.

The former PM also recalled Congress’ former President Rahul Gandhi’s characterisation of JD(S) as BJP’s ‘B-team’ during the 2018 elections, stating in a rather stoic way, “Rahul labelled us as BJP’s ‘B-team’ not only in the recent elections but also in previous ones.” 

Why should they be jealous, asks Revanna

H.D. Revanna, former Minister and son of JD (S) Supremo H.D. Deve Gowda defended their party’s decision to form alliances with other parties.

He questioned why Congress leaders should be jealous of such alliances and argued, “What is their contribution to Muslims? It was Deve Gowda who granted them all their privileges, including reservation and political representation. He also introduced women’s reservation in the State. If there’s any leader who willingly stepped down as Prime Minister, it was Deve Gowda.”

Most JD(S) MLAs against tie with BJP: Ibrahim

Amid these developments, JD(S) State President C.M. Ibrahim, who has aired reservations about the party aligning with the BJP, stated, “Most of our party MLAs are concerned about this decision to ally with the BJP. While we don’t know the specific conditions of the alliance, the majority of our MLAs are opposed to joining hands with the saffron party.”

Ibrahim, however, did not disclose the exact number of party legislators against the BJP alliance but claimed that a majority of MLAs have voiced their opposition to the alliance.