Deve Gowda snubs ‘intellectual’ voters

A day after the humiliating defeat in the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) election, it was introspection time in the JD(S) camp.

“We were defeated by money and mafia power unleashed by the BJP,” party supremo and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda said, but not before taking a dig at the voters’ choice. In a voice loaded with sarcasm, he said, “We will respect the verdict of the intellectual voters of the city.”

The JD(S) could not match the money power, muscle power, land mafia and mining mafia deployed by the BJP to win the polls. “We simply could not match the resources deployed by the BJP to win the elections. But we are not shattered. The party will bounce back under the leadership of HD Kumaraswamy,” Gowda said. He rejected the view that the defeat reflected Kumaraswamy’s failure as a leader.

Expressing his surprise at the voters’ verdict in favour of the BJP despite the decisions to hike milk and water prices, and effecting power cuts immediately after the BBMP polls, Gowda sarcastically said that he would respect the verdict of  ‘intellectual’ voters of Bangalore.

Gowda made his disappointment evident at the poor support for the JD(S) even in areas where farmers were affected by the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project, stating that he raised the BMIC issue not with an eye on the polls. He said the fight against the project would continue in the interest of farmers.

JD(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy said the main cause for the party’s poor show was the dismal voter turnout on the polling day. A huge segment of the society, especially the educated class, which was disillusioned by the BJP government’s failures, showed no interest in casting votes, he said.

The BJP’s blatant use of money played a big role in the party’s victory and the division of anti-BJP votes between the Congress and JD(S) made the ruling party’s task that much easier, Kumaraswamy rued.

The sustained misinformation campaign by political opponents projecting JD(S) as a party averse to the development of Bangalore was also proving to be a stumbling block for the party’s growth in the city, he said.

JD(S) secretary and MLC YSV Datta remarked that his party’s dismal performance was because of its failure to match the BJP’s money power.

Attributing the growing disenchantment with voting among educated voters to the BJP’s total failure and cheap politics, Datta said it was a dangerous trend that could shake the very foundation of the democratic system.