Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister of India from June 1996 to April 1997. In the 1996 general elections, the Congress party headed by P. V. Narasimha Rao lost decisively but no other party won enough seats to form a government. It was then that Deve Gowda was unexpectedly elected as the 11th Prime Minister of India when United Front with the support of Congress decided to form the government at the Centre.
The Lok Sabha elections are due in 2019 and both the ruling and the opposition parties have already geared up for the polls. While BJP party President Amit Shah is on a tour across India to boost the morale of the BJP workers and discuss the election strategy to ensure the only victory and nothing less than that.
While the opposition is also trying to unite all the non-NDA parties and unanimously stand as a single unit to fight against BJP. Congress high Command Sonia Gandhi is though trying hard, getting all the opposition together and not just unite but also work together seems to be a tough task. the unity that the non-NDA parties are talking about could be seen during the ‘BJP Bhagao, Desh Bachao’ rally organised by RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Recently ET held an exclusive interview with former Prime Minister Deve Gowda, in which he said that he is now 85 and do not have any intention of becoming the PM again. Gowda is the nations party president of Janta Dal (Secular) and according to him, JD(S) is a regional party and incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a far strong leader to contend against.
During the interview when asked if the huge mammoth that turned up at the rally organised by Lalu Prasad Yadav in Patna on 27 Aug can be regarded as the indication of people’s moods? Deve replied that such rallies do not indicate anything. Sharing his own experience he said that even he had gone through this type of an experience when in 2008 he had organised such rally and everyone turned up except Lalu Prasad Yadav and Congress. He also pointed out that the Communist Party had also organised a similar rally which was attended by everyone except TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee. The opposition had earlier also planned to go across the nation unitedly and campaign but nothing happened he added.
When asked if his party JD(S) had any relevance in the national context now, he said that he is 85 now and do not have any intention of becoming the Prime Minister again. He told, Narendra Modi was a much bigger leader than him and had in his speeches always spoke about women empowerment. He further added that during his tenure as the PM it was him who had introduced the Women’s Reservation Bill in 1996 and later even Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh during their tenure as the PM had also reintroduced it and tried to get it passed, but Mulayam Singh, Lalu Prasad and Sharad Yadav opposed it. He questioned that why the Modi government now is not taking any actions and get the bill passed with the majority his party enjoys? He said that he will bring up this issue in the next Parliament session.
Talking about his election campaigns and measures that his party is taking to make JD(S)’s existence known in Karnataka, he said that he is working on strengthening the party organisation. Deve said that unlike the regional parties, National parties have enough power and resources to boast about their party’s achievements through the media. He also highlighted the point that “I have never seen so many government advertisements in the space of a half hour TV show ever before.” He further informed that even his party is working towards campaigning through social media and What’s app informing the people about the programmes implemented by former Chief Minister of Karnataka and his son Kumaraswamy and himself. He added that “People are saying we have seen BJP, we have seen Siddaramaiah, let us give Kumaraswamy a chance.”
During the interview when said that the BJP is determined after its success in UP, Deve replied that BJP is attacking Congress and the latter is counter attacking BJP. Both the parties are fighting to win power but JD(S) is a small regional party, who is not involved in such fights. JD(S) only works for the development and social justice. He also claimed that by December his party’s position will be elsewhere and it will no longer have a hung assembly. He said that “I am on the last leg of my life, I have the willpower to overcome ill-health and I have a deep faith in God. I am more Hindu than the RSS, but my policies have always helped all communities. Even Muslims, Dalits and the OBCs are on my side.”