Former PM Deve Gowda calls Karnataka 'political crisis' a media hype

Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president HD Deve Gowda on Tuesday said the perceived 'political crisis' in Karnataka was a just media hype.

He also downplayed the importance of two independent MLAs withdrawing support from the Congress-JDS government led by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, who happens to be his son.

Speaking to ANI, Deve Gowda said: "The two MLAs are not affiliated with any party. They are independents. There is no need to hype it up so much. It is the media who wants to play a certain role. It is all a media hype."

He said that the Congress had decided to fill up the vacancies of six ministers, board and corporation members and political secretaries in the state and were unable to accommodate a few people including the two independent MLAs.

The former Prime Minister further said the BJP's move to camp all their elected legislators in a Gurugram hotel in Haryana highlights their sense of insecurity and their inability to "keep all 104 MLAs together."

"JDS members are all here. We are not going to shift them. They are in their own villages. Even the Congress MLAs have not gone anywhere. Kumaraswamy has also contacted two independent MLAs. They said they are not joining the BJP. They have made it amply clear," Deve Gowda said.

Expressing confidence that the Congress-JDS alliance government will last its full five-year term, Deve Gowda dismissed rumours that MLAs from the coalition government may join the BJP. "Who will go? Who can trust Yeddyurappa firstly," he asked.

Earlier in the day, two Independent MLAs, H Nagesh, and R Shankar withdrew their support to the JDS-Congress government.

In the 224-member Assembly, JDS has 37 MLAs while the Congress has 80. The coalition has the support of a few Independent legislators in the House, where the majority figure is 113.

Chief Minister Kumaraswamy was unfazed by the development, saying he is "totally relaxed."

"If two MLAs withdraw their support, what will be the numbers? I am totally relaxed. I know my strength. Whatever has been going on in the media for a week, I am enjoying," he told the reporters.

The Congress has alleged that three of its MLAs were taken to Mumbai by the BJP in a bid to lure them to their fold.

The BJP, while dismissing these claims, has alleged poaching attempts by the Congress. The BJP has housed all its 104 MLAs in a hotel in Gurugram, on the outskirts of Delhi, because of the fear of the alleged poaching.