Modi wishes Deve Gowda on his birthday, is it an attempt to woo JD(S) to BJP’s fold in Karnataka?

On Friday, PM Narendra Modi wished former PM HD Deve Gowda on his birthday.

Bengaluru, May 18: In the last few days a lot went wrong between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)), as the latter decided to join hands with the Congress after the Karnataka Assembly election results threw up a fractured mandate on Tuesday.

Leaders of both the BJP and the JD(S) exchanged barbs against each other in the harshest possible manner, creating a bitter rift between the two parties which had earlier ran a coalition government in Karnataka in 2006.

Despite 'public display of hatred' against each other, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not stop himself from reaching out to JD(S) supremo and his predecessor HD Deve Gowda on his birthday on Friday. Deve Gowda turned 86 on Friday.

PM Modi tweeted to announce that he had a telephonic conversation with the JD(S) patriarch to convey him birthday greetings. "Spoke to our former Prime Minister Shri HD Deve Gowda Ji and conveyed birthday wishes to him. I pray for his good health and long life," tweeted Modi.

Many are reading the "nice gesture" by Modi towards Deve Gowda as an attempt to reach out to the JD(S) to win its support as the newly-formed BJP government seems to be on a sticky wicket in Karnataka.

On Thursday, BJP's BS Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the new chief minister of Karnataka, despite having just 104 MLAs with the party. Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala has given Yeddyurappa 15 days to prove his majority on the floor of the house.

The question that everyone is asking is from where the BJP will get the support of another eight MLAs, even as the Congress and the JD(S) have taken all their legislators to Hyderabad to avoid poaching.

Meanwhile, all eyes are on the Supreme Court on Friday over its ruling on whether Vala had taken the right decision or not to invite Yeddyurappa to form the government in the southern state despite lacking numbers.

During the time of Karnataka election campaign, Modi and BJP president Amit Shah profusely praised the former PM. However, both the BJP top leaders told voters not to vote for the JD(S) as it is aligned with the Congress.

Amid all the political drama underway in Karnataka, JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda decided to get some "spiritual solace" as he visited the famous Tirupati temple in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh hours ahead of his birthday on Thursday evening.

Speaking to reporters, JD(S) chief said, "I am praying to god to give me strength and I am praying to god for a solution (Karnataka political uncertainty)."