Former Minister and JD(S) MLA G.T. Deve Gowda, who has distanced himself from his party, was among the dignitaries gathered at Oval Grounds in Mysuru on Monday to receive Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Though Mr. Gowda’s presence caused a minor stir in political circles, he said he met the Prime Minister on his arrival and submitted an appeal for the development of Mysuru.
He also shared a copy of the letter he handed over to the Prime Minister on his social media account. Mr. Gowda had sought for Mysuru a Metro, special grants for civil and infrastructure works, develop a rail corridor connecting Kerala and Tamil Nadu with Mysuru for swift movement of goods, besides special funds for irrigation projects.
Mr. Gowda later participated in the public function addressed by the Prime Minister at Maharaja’s College grounds for the launch of a slew of Government projects.
Mr. Gowda’s action raised a few eyebrows in view of his publicly declared future course of action to quit JD(S) and join either Congress or BJP. Mr. Gowda, who has already approached the Congress leaders seeking party tickets for himself and his son Harish Gowda, had also disclosed that the BJP leaders too had extended an invitation to him.
Meanwhile, the one family one ticket rule brought in by the Congress party recently, albeit with some exclusion clauses, is believed to have come in the way of the entry of Mr. Gowda and his son into the party.
The BJP, however, has been continuing to woo Mr. Gowda in its bid to strengthen its base in the Vokkaliga-dominated Old Mysore region. Mr. Gowda, meanwhile, appears to be playing his cards close to his chest.
It may also be mentioned here that Mr. Modi had written a letter to Mr. Gowda last month to condole the death of his grand-daughter. In return, Mr Gowda too had written a letter to the Prime Minister thanking him for his condolence letter.
Congress leaders including former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy too had visited Mr. Gowda’s native Gungral Chatra to condole the death of his grand-daughter.
