Deve Gowda on Karnataka CM: Expletive deleted

Former prime minister and Janata Dal-Secular president H.D. Deve Gowda landed himself in controversy on Sunday by publicly saying “bloody b......”, but claimed the invective was not hurled at Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.

Former prime minister and Janata Dal-Secular president H.D. Deve Gowda landed himself in controversy on Sunday by publicly saying “bloody b......”, but claimed the invective was not hurled at Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.

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Gowda, who had joined farmers protesting land acquisition for the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) on the outskirts of Bangalore, while responding to reporters gave the impression that he was abusing Yeddyurappa.

He later clarified he was not referring to Yeddyurappa.

The CM had criticised Gowda on Saturday for joining the farmers' protest even though Gowda had himself cleared the project when he was the Karnataka chief minister in 1995 and the Supreme Court had cleared the land allotment.

Talking to reporters at the protest venue, an angry Gowda shouted “who is he, that bloody b......”. He also used a Kannada invective which roughly translates to “son of a b...”.

With Kannada TV channels telecasting the episode, the state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party leaders reacted angrily while Yeddyurappa said he did not expect a former prime minister to stoop so low in public discourse.

He said it appeared Gowda had “lost his mental balance”.