Bengaluru: Stating that caste and regional disparity are the reasons behind the surge of one political party (read Bharatiya Janata Party) in the country, former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda expressed his apprehension about this development. Speaking after releasing the Kannada translation of ‘The Indian Parliament, A democracy at Work OIP’ written by B.S. Shankar and Valerian Rodrigues here on Sunday, the Janata Dal (Secular) supremo regretted that no efforts were made to identify leaders from the South from the day of Independence. In North India, due to the influence of Hindi language, that region was getting politically influential, he remarked.
Recalling that the first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru laid a strong foundation for Indian democracy, he lamented that people talk lightly about him even in the Lok Sabha though his contribution to the country is huge. When Indira Gandhi was prime pinister, there was instability in nine states and she brought in good programmes for these states. “Even I am originally a Congressman. I have undergone a lot of pain and I don’t want to talk about that,” he said.
Highlighting the contributions of former chief minister late Devaraj Urs, Gowda said that he was the best chief minister of Karnataka particularly when it came ti legislature sessions. Though the strength of the Opposition was only 24 then, he used to listen patiently to the charges made by the Opposition and answer their queries by citing statistics, he said.
