Bengaluru, Jan 23 (PTI) JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda on Thursday called on secular regional parties and Congress to fight against the "divisive policies" of the central government like the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens with a Common Minimum Programme.
The former Prime Minister also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of fulfilling the "long standing anti-Muslim agenda" of Jana Sangh and Hindu Mahasabha, and leading the country to the margins of danger.
Gowda said that during these trying times, regional parties and the Congress still believing in secular principles have to fight with a CMP "to avert the disaster that may explode anytime."
It was a matter left for bigger leaders to decide, but the JD(S), being a small party, should be ready to fight these acts at any level and be ready to go to jail if such a situation arose, he said, addressing a JD(S) convention here.
Alleging that attempts were being made to treat Muslims as second grade citizens of the country, he accused Modi of "fulfilling the nearly 70-year-old anti Muslim agenda" of the Jana Sangh and Hindu Mahasabha, after his party won over 300 seats in the Lok Sabha in the 2019 parliamentary polls.
Pointing to nationwide agitations, he said "this government has led the country to the margins of danger..."
Noting that Congress and JD(S) as "secular parties", had formed a coalition government in Karnataka that eventually collapsed, the regional party's national President said he would not discuss who was right or wrong and reasons for the government to fall. "But somewhere we have stumbled," he said.
"How the BJP government was formed in Karnataka, how long will it survive, where did we stumble...let's not discuss about it.
Let's concentrate on strengthening our organisation...be prepared for everything. Only then will the party survive,"he added.
Pointing to his defeat in the Lok Sabha polls and the party getting 15 seats in the assembly polls, Gowda asked JD (S) workers not to be disheartened, fearing the party's poor prospects in the future.
"...the strength of the party is you (workers) and it is you who can build and rejuvenate it. You will have to work with zeal. Without your support one Deve Gowda or one Kumaraswamy (his son) cannot achieve anything," he added.
The JD(S) also passed three resolutions- against the "weakening" economic situation in the country and growing unemployment and to hold a mass public movement in this regard; agitation against discrimination in allocation of funds to the state by the centre if it is not set right soon; and demand to withdraw Citizenhisp AA to maintain peace in the country.
