Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) national president H.D. Deve Gowda has criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for neglecting the needs of farmers in the country.
“Pay due attention to making the country a farmers’ India, before converting it into a digital India,” he said at a press conference in Hassan on Tuesday.
“I am not against the idea of a digital India. We may take three to four years to go completely digital. However, the need of the hour is to address the requirements of the farming sector. Farmer suicides have not stopped,” Mr. Deve Gowda said. He added that a majority of the population was not aware of how to operate smart phones. For such individuals, the idea of going digital would be difficult to comprehend, the former PM said.
On Mr. Modi’s oft-repeated statement ‘India had been ruled by corrupt leaders in the last 70 years’, Mr. Deve Gowda questioned how Modi could label Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Atal Bihari Vajpayee corrupt. He went on to say, “If I had committed any wrong during my tenure as Prime Minister, let the PM conduct an inquiry. I am ready to face any sort of inquiry,”.
Answering a question on the bypoll in Nanjangud Assembly segment, Mr. Deve Gowda said the party had not yet decided on contesting the election. “We cannot match the national parties – the Congress or the BJP – in terms of the money they will spend on the election. The party will take a decision at the appropriate time after consulting party workers,” he said.
H.S. Prakash, MLA, Hassan, was present at the conference.
