While the contribution of Janata Dal (Secular) national president and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy came for a special mention by Nanjavadhoota Swami during the Vokkaliga rally here on Wednesday, the two JD(S) leaders were conspicuous by their absence.
In fact, the advertisement that had Mr. Kumaraswamy’s picture and spoke of a possibility of his arrest — as part of the perceived larger attack on the community leaders — also did not go down well with the former Chief Minister.
“People are saying that I will be arrested. But nobody can do anything to me. I have not done anything wrong and nobody can fix me in the [phone-tapping] case,” he told reporters at Channapatna. Further, he said that JD(S) leaders and workers were part of the protest.
On his absence at the rally, Mr. Kumaraswamy said, “If I had been invited earlier I would have gone to the rally. I had a pre-scheduled function at Channapatna.”
