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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President Murmu rejects mercy plea of man convicted for rape, murder of 2-year-old in Maharashtra
New Delhi (PTI): President Droupadi Murmu has rejected the mercy petition of a man convicted of kidnapping, raping and killing a two-year-old girl in Maharashtra in 2012, officials said on Sunday.
This is the third mercy plea rejected by the President after assuming office on July 25, 2022.
The Supreme Court on October 3, 2019, affirmed the death sentence awarded to Ravi Ashok Ghumare, saying he had no control over his "carnal desires" and surpassed all natural, social and legal limits just to satiate his sexual hunger.
In its verdict, a three-judge bench comprising Justice Surya Kant (now chief justice of India), by a majority verdict of 2:1, said the man had "ruthlessly finished" a life which was yet to bloom and his act of committing unnatural offence with the two-year-old exhibits "a dirty and perverted mind, showcasing a horrifying tale of brutality".
Ghumare's mercy plea was rejected by the President on November 6, 2025, according to the status of the mercy petition disclosed by the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
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"Having said that, it may be seen that the victim was barely a two-year-old baby whom the appellant (Ravi) kidnapped and apparently kept on assaulting for over four to five hours till she breathed her last.
"The appellant, who had no control over his carnal desires, surpassed all natural, social and legal limits just to satiate his sexual hunger. He ruthlessly finished a life which was yet to bloom," Justice Surya Kant had said, while writing the verdict for himself and (now retired) Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman.
The appellant, instead of showing fatherly love, affection and protection to the child against the evils of society, made her the victim of lust, the majority verdict said.
"It’s a case where trust has been betrayed, and social values are impaired. The unnatural sex with a two-year-old toddler exhibits a dirty and perverted mind, showcasing a horrifying tale of brutality," the verdict said.
According to the prosecution, the incident took place on March 6, 2012, in Indiranagar locality of Maharashtra's Jalna city. Ghumare had lured the victim with a chocolate.
The trial court had convicted him and awarded the death penalty on September 16, 2015. His death sentence was upheld by the Bombay High Court in January 2016.
