Siddaramaiah meets Deve Gowda, inquires about former PM’s health

PTI, Sep 20, 2022, 7:56 AM IST

Image credit: Twitter / @siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Monday called on former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda at the latter’s residence here to inquire about his health.

Soon after the Legislative Assembly session for the day ended, the former Chief Minister, along with his party legislators R V Deshpande, B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, and Ajay Dharam Singh, among others, drove to the 89-year-old leader’s Padmanabhanagar residence here.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Siddaramaiah said he was visiting Gowda’s residence after six years.

“I last visited him in 2016 as the Chief Minister to discuss the Cauvery water disputes case. Now, I found out that he was not in good health, so I visited to inquire about his health,” he said.

Making it clear that no political discussions took place between them, the Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly said Gowda complained of knee pain and hence was unable to walk freely, and was using a walker.

“He (Gowda) said rest are all normal, including intake of food….he also said that he watches Assembly proceedings on TV… his memory power is very good.”

To a question about the visit being seen as a “shishya meeting his political guru”, Siddaramaiah said, “…he (Gowda) is a senior politician in the country and in the State too. I had come to inquire about his health. We are in different parties, party politics are different, humanity is different and it is important.”

The duo has been considered as political bete-noires since 2006, when Siddaramaiah quit as Deputy Chief Minister and subsequently joined the Congress, after being expelled from the JD(S).

However, the hung verdict in the 2018 Assembly elections had forced both the stalwarts to swallow their pride and join hands to fight for survival, resulting in the formation of Congress-JD(S) coalition government in the State under the leadership of Gowda’s son H D Kumaraswamy.

Following the collapse of the coalition government in 2019 due to internal squabbles, the animosity between the two again surfaced and they publicly criticised each other for the downfall of the partnership.