Bengaluru. Janata Dal (Secular) supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda on Saturday attacked the ‘India’ alliance, saying it has made a mockery of secularism. In a veiled attack on the ‘India’ alliance of opposition parties, Deve Gowda reminded that Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was the Railway Minister during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. . He said that similarly Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. DMK, the party of Stalin’s father and former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, had an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for six years. Deve Gowda said that one of Karunanidhi’s sons-in-law was a minister in the then central government.
TMC and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) are part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (India) coalition. Deve Gowda said in an interview that ‘we can mention many examples. If anyone speaks about so-called secularism in this country, people say it is a joke. He said that ‘NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar joined hands with former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. A member of Congress was the speaker in Maharashtra. I can cite many cases and these developments are not in accordance with the real meaning of secularism.
In how many states does Congress rule survive?
On Congress’s allegation that JD(S) has joined hands with the communal BJP, former Prime Minister Deve Gowda questioned how many states the Congress is ruling today. He sarcastically said that the party is in power only in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana. Deve Gowda (90 years) praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that Modi is different from Vajpayee. He said that the BJP under Vajpayee’s leadership could not cross more than 180 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, while Modi got 282 seats (BJP alone) and with NDA allies, had more than 350 seats in his first term. The former Prime Minister said that now his aim is to cross 400 seats with the alliance.
Is Modi the biggest leader today?
He said that Modi’s leadership has been recognized not only in India but also in other countries. He said that ‘today the atmosphere is such, whether in India or outside, that he (Modi) has got recognition. These people (opposition parties) have no perspective and speak irrelevant things. I don’t want to make harsh remarks against him. Deve Gowda said that people will not take seriously the attacks by opposition parties on the Prime Minister. Deve Gowda advised the opposition parties to realize that Modi is the biggest leader today, who should be accepted by the people. On Congress’s allegation that there has been autocracy in the last 10 years and some ‘crony capitalists’ have benefited and not the poor and deserving people, the former Prime Minister wondered how much power the Congress has today and how many seats it can win. But can hope for victory.
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There is no condition for seats
He said that ‘he was unable to get recognition (of the opposition party) in two terms in Parliament. There is no use in talking about the Congress party. On the seat sharing formula between BJP and JD(S) in Karnataka for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Deve Gowda said that his party has not put any condition. There is talk that Deve Gowda’s son and former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy or his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy may contest the Lok Sabha elections, although the senior JD(S) leader said it is for his son to take a decision in this regard. Deve Gowda said that ‘I cannot predict what is going to happen tomorrow, he (Kumaraswamy) is also a leader. His leadership is unquestionable. They have to take a decision. He will discuss every issue with Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and make appropriate consensus.
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Tags: Congress, HD Deve Gowda, Opposition Parties, Secularism
FIRST PUBLISHED: March 9, 2024, 17:51 IST