Deve Gowda Hits Back at Kharge’s “Marriage” Remark, Calls Congress Alliance a “Forced and Abusive Relationship”

Former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda on Wednesday issued a sharp response to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his recent remarks likening political alliances to a “marriage.” Kharge, speaking during his farewell address in Parliament, had taken a light-hearted dig at the Janata Dal (Secular) patriarch, saying he had once been “in love” with the Congress but ultimately “married” Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The comment drew laughter from fellow Members of Parliament. Responding in a detailed statement, Deve Gowda rejected the characterization and offered his own analogy, stating that his party’s past alliance with the Congress was a “forced marriage” that eventually had to end in “divorce” due to what he described as an “abusive relationship.” “I was not in the House when Shri Kharge spoke, as I had to leave for Bengaluru to attend Ugadi celebrations. However, I would like to clarify that I did not desert the Congress. It is they who walked away,” Gowda said. Recalling the 2018 Karnataka political developments, Gowda pointed out that senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had proposed his son H. D. Kumaraswamy as Chief Minister despite his own reservations. Gowda claimed he had instead suggested Kharge’s name for the post in the presence of leaders including Siddaramaiah. He further accused the Congress of failing to prevent defections in 2019, which ultimately led to the collapse of the coalition government in Karnataka. “If Congress had acted against those responsible for instigating defections, the situation today might have been very different,” Gowda added. The veteran leader asserted that the breakdown of trust left him with no option but to seek a “more stable alliance,” indirectly referring to JD(S)’s current alignment with the BJP. Earlier, Kharge had reminisced about his decades-long association with Gowda, stating that he had known him for over 54 years and worked closely with him before political equations changed. The remarks highlight the lingering tensions between the two veteran leaders, even as their exchanges were couched in a mix of personal camaraderie and political reminiscence, reflecting the complex nature of long-standing alliances in Indian politics.