Mandya (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said that former prime minister H D Deve Gowda felt compelled to form an alliance between JD(S) and the BJP because many of his MLAs were ready to quit the party.

He said a "drama" was played by the JD(S) patriarch to prevent the JD(S) from becoming "zero". Addressing a public meeting at Malavalli in Mandya district, the chief minister reminded the audience that the JD(S) had got 37 seats in 2018 but lost 18 seats in 2023 when it won only 19 seats in the assembly elections.

"Fearing that they will be 'zero', they forged an alliance with the BJP because many JD(S) MLAs were ready to quit their party. To stop them, Deve Gowda staged the drama [of BJP-JD(S) alliance]," he said.

Siddaramaiah said he vividly remembers Deve Gowda once saying that he would prefer to be born as a 'Musalman' in his next birth, but today he has forged an alliance with the BJP.

"I pray to you with folded hands, please remove the word 'secular' from your party Janata Dal (Secular). You have no moral right to use the word 'secular' anymore after forming an alliance with the communal BJP," the chief minister said, targeting his remarks at the JD(S).

He appealed to the people of Mandya to vote for the Congress as it fulfilled all the five key guarantees including 'Shakti' scheme offering free bus rides to Karnataka women in non-luxury government buses anywhere in the state. So far women in Karnataka have taken up 155 crore rides, he told people.