JD(S) to fight Lok Sabha polls independently, says Deve Gowda but keeps options open
Bengaluru (PTI): The Janata Dal (Secular) would fight the Lok Sabha elections independently, the party supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, said on Tuesday but appeared to keep the options open amid the recent bonhomie between the party and the BJP.
The party would decide on its action in future based on the prevailing situation, he said.
Deve Gowda also said he was not invited to the meeting of opposition parties here earlier this month as a section of the Congress in Karnataka was opposed to such a move even though Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wanted him to be there.
Gowda's son and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said last week his party would work together with the BJP against the Congress government in Karnataka on various issues, fueling speculation of the two parties joining hands for next year's polls.
Both the JD (S) and the BJP MLAs had boycotted the Assembly session after ten BJP legislators were suspended from the House for "indecent and disrespectful conduct" in the House.
"JD(S) will fight the Lok Sabha elections independently", Deve Gowda told a news conference here.
"Whether we (the party) win five, six, three, two or one seats, we will fight the Lok Sabha elections independently", he said. "We will field candidates only in those places where we are strong after consulting with our workers".
Gowda, however, said the party will decide its future course of action based on the prevailing situation.
In this context, he recalled how his party had given support to the Congress-led government led by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The JD (S) and the Congress had fought the 2019 Lok Sabha elections together. The BJP had won 25 out of 28 seats in Karnataka then.
The JD (S) and the Congress had secured one seat each, while an independent backed by the BJP had also won.
Deve Gowda, who had contested from Tumakuru Lok Sabha segment, had also lost.
To a question on why he was not invited by the opposition parties for its meeting in Bengaluru on July 17, Gowda said a section of Congress leaders from Karnataka had opposed his presence.
"A section of Congress here (in Karnataka) had threatened that they will not attend the event if Deve Gowda is invited. Hence, I was not called," he said.
Deve Gowda said Nitish Kumar wanted to invite him but some local Congress leaders were not in favour.
The JD(S) put up a poor show in the elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly in May, bagging only 19 seats.
"The party has existed till today since 1983 and will continue to exist. Those who think that the party will end are living under illusion. It is not possible," Gowda said.
According to Gowda, the 19 MLAs, seven MLCs and top leaders had a meeting last week and chalked out programmes for campaigning in the districts, which will be finalised after Kumaraswamy returns from abroad.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
