Stinking war of words

Tuesday, 12 January 2010
A day after former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda abused Chief Minster B S Yeddyurappa and advocate general Ashok Harnhally as “bloody bastards”, the two parties - JD(S) and BJP - continue to indulge in mudslinging. While BJP leaders upped the ante by organising protests all over Karnataka against Gowda and his two political heirs - former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and JD(S) floor leader in the Assembly HD Revanna - the JD(S) leaders were in damage control mode and played down the spat, saying the former PM never meant what he “actually said”. In fact Gowda, who was in Delhi on Tuesday, defended hurling abuses by saying that he used the invective against the CM as he was “moved by the agony of the farmers”. “I have already expressed regret. What can I do if the media and others continue to repeat the statement?”’ he asked while reiterating that there was no question of his giving up the fight against the controversial Bangalore- Mysore express highway for which he signed the original frame work agreement in 1995. Kumaraswamy at a media conference in Bangalore said that he did not approve of the language used by his father, but was quick to point out that both Gowda and the party had expressed regret. Yeddyurappa, who went soft on Gowda on Monday, on Tuesday alleged that “the former PM was an expert at presenting falsehood as truth”. He said, “I can also use such language but I do not want to do so,”. BJP workers across Karnataka protested on the streets and burnt effigies of Gowda and his two sons. In Bidar, workers attacked the local JD(S) office while there were clashes and hurling of shoes and chappals by BJP and JD(S) workers in Arsikere in Hassan, the home district of the former PM.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 12 January 2010 )