Bengaluru: Once again warning the Congress against taking it for granted, Janata Dal (Secular) supremo, H D Deve Gowda on Saturday said his party might have won hardly two seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll, but it was still a force to reckon with.
Speaking to reporters here, he said his party wanted a pre-poll alliance with the Congress for the coming Lok Sabha election to prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party from coming back to power at the Centre and for no other reason.
“The Congress should not take the Janata Dal (Secular) very lightly as it has its own strength in the state,” he stressed, adding that he would go on a tour of all 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state to boost the morale of his party workers at the grassroots.
“I will not rest till the BJP- led National Democratic Alliance is thrown out of power,” he asserted.
While he admitted there was a “little confusion” in the coalition government, Mr Gowda said he was confident these contentious issues would be resolved and ruled out any threat to the Kumaraswamy government.
“There has been some difference of opinion on the appointment of chairmen to three or four boards and corporations, but this will be amicably settled by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, Deputy Chief Minister, Dr G Parameshwar, former Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah and others. At the national level, these issues will be addressed by Mr Danish Ali, I and Delhi Congress leaders,” he added.
Claiming that he would not contest the coming Lok Sabha election, he said he didn’t think it was worth his time to be in parliament.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi gives interviews to television channels but doesn’t come to the Lok Sabha. In his absence, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman had to defend the government on the controversial Rafale deal. Should I go to Lok Sabha only to stand up when the national anthem is played while Mr Modi attends a function when an important issue is being discussed in the House?" he asked with sarcasm.
Siddu to officials: First learn Kannada
Former Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah took government officials to task for speaking in English while giving him information about the world heritage site of Pattadkal in Bagalkot district on Saturday. As the staff of the archaeological department briefed him in English about the tourist destination during his two-day tour of his Badami Assembly constituency, Mr Siddaramaiah interrupted to demand, “Don’t you know Kannada? Are you from the government of India? Why do you come here? First learn Kannada.” The Congress leader had in the past served as the first president of the Kannada Kavalu Samithi, a watchdog committee for implementation of Kannada as the official language of the state.
