No-trust motion to NCT Bill to Manipur: JD(S) sticks to neutrality line drawn by Deve Gowda

With JD(S) patriarch maintaining that its alignments would remain ‘situational’, the party’s equidistance from BJP and Cong was seen inside Parliament and outside during monsoon session

Janata Dal (Secular) ex-Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda. (File)

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The Janata Dal (Secular) led by ex-Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda demonstrated its avowed policy of neutrality vis-a-vis the BJP and the Congress during the just-concluded monsoon session of Parliament. It was especially on display during the debates on the no-confidence motion and the NCT Amendment Bill.

The JD(S), which is essentially a Karnataka-based outfit, has been facing a crisis since the Karnataka Assembly polls held in May this year, in which its tally fell to 19 seats from 37 in the 2018 polls. The JD(S)’s dismal poll performance prevented the party from playing the role of a “kingmaker”, which it has done in the past.

With the Congress sweeping to power with an absolute majority, the JD(S) was then perceived as moving closer to the principal Opposition BJP, till its patriarch Deve Gowda announced that the party would maintain “neutrality” and form strategic, issue-based alliances based on the unfolding situations.

Meanwhile, the JD(S) continued its work in coordination with the BJP in the Karnataka Legislature to take on the new Siddaramaiah-led Congress government on several issues.

Earlier this week, Deve Gowda, who is currently a Rajya Sabha member, travelled to Delhi to attend the proceedings of the House. He did not speak on the Manipur issue, but later commented on social media about the lack of decorum in Parliament.

“I came to attend Parliament despite ill health, but have been very disappointed by what is happening. From my long experience, I can say that this is a new low. Democracy can be saved only if everybody maintains dignity and decorum. Shouting, name-calling and sloganeering will destroy what is left of our system,” the former PM wrote on social media Thursday.

Deve Gowda is yet to make a statement on the Manipur situation. During a press conference in Bengaluru on July 26, he was urged for a comment, but desisted. “On Manipur, I have my own views, which I will express later,” he said.

Deve Gowda’s grandson Prajwal Revanna, a Lok Sabha MP representing the family borough of Hassan, did not speak during the no-confidence debate, nor has he expressed his views on the NCT Amendment Bill or Delhi services legislation, which was passed in both the Houses amid strong protests from the Opposition INDIA alliance, which includes the Congress.
There was speculation that Deve Gowda’s Delhi visit could formalise an understanding for cooperation with the BJP in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The JD(S) patriarch continues to maintain that the loyalties of his party are towards itself, and not to the BJP or the Congress. Significantly, the JD(S) has not been part of the INDIA coalition, although Deve Gowda had been a key player in Opposition politics in the past. “Changes (in politics) happen according to a situation, which can’t be predicted by anyone,” he said at a recent press interaction, where he stressed on the JD(S)’s neutrality.

“There is no doubt we will fight elections independently. When we had three (Lok Sabha) seats, (then PM) Manmohan Singh had approached us and said he needed our support and we extended it. In the interest of a stable government in the country, we will decide according to a situation that emerges at a particular moment in history. The party will decide,” Deve Gowda said.

Since the Assembly polls, Deve Gowda and his son and ex-chief minister H D Kumaraswamy have criticised the Congress for being “overconfident” about its national prospects. “Where is the Congress present in the country (based on Lok Sabha seats). They have to fight with regional parties. It is not about Karnataka alone,” he said recently.

“When the Janata Party formed the (Karnataka) government in 1983, it was a Congress-free government with the BJP, communists and Independents. It was the first non-Congress government in Karnataka. It had Ramakrishna Hegde as the CM. We were associated with the BJP at the time, and Siddaramaiah held a post in the government. In politics, associations are forged according to the situation,” Deve Gowda said.