Deve Gowda's "Abusive Relationship" Reply After M Kharge's "Married PM" Jab

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda has responded to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's banter in Rajya Sabha, in which he said the JDS leader "dated" the Congress, but "married" Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Deve Gowda has said that he was in a "forced marriage" with the Congress but had to "divorce" them because it was an "abusive relationship".

In his farewell speech in the Rajya Sabha yesterday, Kharge spoke about Deve Gowda, whose term in the Upper House of Parliament is also coming to an end.

Kharge said Deve Gowda was Prime Minister and served in several other capacities. "I have known him for 54 years and have worked with him. But I don't know what happened. He dated us, loved us, but married Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said, drawing a round of laughter from across the House. The Prime Minister, who was present in the Rajya Sabha, was seen laughing. The Congress chief also said he does not know why Deve Gowda did it.

In a welcome shift from noisy protests and heated exchanges between the treasury and Opposition benches, the Rajya Sabha today rang with peals of laughter, thanks to a light-hearted remark by outgoing member and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

Kharge, Leader of the… pic.twitter.com/dUfWBtDUv6

— NDTV (@ndtv) March 18, 2026

In his response, Deve Gowda has said, "My dear and longtime friend, Shri. Mallikarjun Kharge, made a light-hearted comment in Parliament today about me having been in "love" with them (Congress) but 'married' Modi Ji (BJP) eventually. He also said he did not know the reason as to why I did so."

"I was not in the House when Shri. Kharge spoke as I had to leave for Bengaluru to be present for tomorrow's Ugadi celebrations. If I were to respond to my friend in the same language of marriage, I would like to say that I was in a "forced marriage" with the Congress but had to "divorce" them because it was an abusive relationship," he added in a statement.

My dear friend Shri. @kharge made a humorous comment in parliament today on my “love” for @INCIndia and “marriage” with @BJP4India. I was not there in the House when he spoke. Here's my response both lighthearted and factual on why I was forced to “divorce” the Congress @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/qPK95FUxip

— H D Devegowda (@H_D_Devegowda) March 18, 2026

"Shri. Kharge will remember that in 2018, Congress sent Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad and offered Shri Kumaraswamy the chief ministership. I did not consent to this. I told in everybody's presence that Shri Kharge should be made Chief Minister. Shri Siddaramaiah was also there. However Shri Azad insisted on Shri Kumaraswamy's leadership. But after all this song, dance and a wedding, what did they do in 2019? They dumped us. How many Congress MLAs defected to the BJP and who sent them across is now common knowledge. If Congress had acted against the person who instigated defection that day, today my friend, Shri Kharge, would be in a better position as AICC President," he said.

"So to put the record straight, I did not desert the Congress alliance. It is they who walked away. They left me with no choice but to 'divorce' them and seek a more stable alliance," Deve Gowda said.

Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister for less than a year after the 1996 Lok Sabha polls. The Congress supported the United Front government he headed. HD Deve Gowda's JDS tied up with the Congress in Karnataka for the 2018 state polls, and the alliance won. Deve Gowda's son, HD Kumaraswamy, became Chief Minister, but the state government collapsed in 2019 after several Congress and JDS MLAs rebelled. JDS later allied with the BJP.