Kochi: In a u turn, former Premier H D Deve Gowda of the Janata Dal (S) denied saying that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had given a nod to the JDS BJP tie up, media reports said.
Hours after media quoted Gowda as making the statement about Pinarayi, the JD(S) chief clarified that he never said that Kerala Chief Minister gave green signal to the alliance between JD(S) and the saffron party.
Gowda’s rebuttal commes in the wake of Pinarayi condemning Gowda’s claims. Pinarayi said on Twitter (X) that Gowda’s statements were all lies.
But, the JD(S)-BJP tie up has made the situation more complicated in Kerala where a JDS leader K Krishnankutty is a minister in the Left government.
The JDS chief Gowda had said on Thursday that Krishnankutty had given consent to him for the JDS-BJP tie up. Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra units had also agreed to the alliance, Gowda said.Many Muslim leaders in the JD(S) had supported the party’s decision, Gowda said while speaking to the media after expelling his close aide and Karnataka unit president C M Ibrahim for opposing the alliance. Gowda dissolved the Karnataka working committee and appointed his son H D Kumaraswamy as its ad-hoc president. After the state committee meeting held at Kochi on October 7, the JDS Kerala president, Mathew T Thomas, said that the Kerala unit was not consulted on the alliance.
On the other hand the matter has provided fodder for the Congress which had been saying for long that the CPM had a secret alliance with the BJP to protect Pinarayi from various allegations. Ironically the CPM is part of the Congress-led I.N.D.I.A alliance at national level while it is fighting against it in Kerala.
