H.D. Deve Gowda, MP and Janata (Dal) supremo, has said that neither the Congress nor the BJP will come to power at the Centre after the Lok Sabha elections. “A forum alternative to both the BJP and the Congress will emerge before the elections and that will improve its strength after the polls,” he told presspersons here on Saturday.
“Many States have regional parties with a strong base. Jayalalithaa, Mamata Banerjee, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Naveen Patnaik and Mayawati are all strong leaders with support in their respective regions. These forums will come together before the elections. Some more parties may join this alternative forum as time passes,” he said.
Stating that he was optimistic about the third front taking shape, Mr. Gowda said capturing power was not the objective of the forum. “People have experienced ruling of both national parties — the Congress and the BJP. This time they will opt for the alternative,” he said.
These other parties might come together with an economic policy that was different from that of both the national parties. “The leaders of the alternative front may hold a rally or come together on one platform to disclose the policies and programmes. Talks are on,” he said.
Further, he said he would contest the coming Lok Sabha elections only because the people in power had not been giving attention to development works in the State. Asked whether he would contest from Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha constituency, Deve Gowda said he was thinking about it. “We will fight all 28 seats in the State. We have to field a strong candidate for the Bangalore Rural seat,” he said.
