Future of regional parties in the country will be at stake if the Bharatiya Janata Party comes to power in Uttar Pradesh on its own strength, the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda has said.
Interacting with reporters during a programme organised by the Press Club of Bangalore and the Reporters’ Guild here on Wednesday, Mr. Gowda said regional parties had lost their strength to stop the BJP’s political growth owing to lack of unity. “Mamata Banerjee is fighting a protracted battle against the BJP in West Bengal ...,” he said.
Cautioning that the BJP’s next target was Karnataka, he said, “The BJP is being run by twin-brothers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party national president Amit Shah, and others do not have any role to play. They would leave no stone unturned to bring the BJP to power in Karnataka.”
Discounting the allegations that dynastic politics and caste factor were the reasons for the failure of regional parties, Mr. Gowda said except H.D. Revanna and H.D. Kumaraswamy nobody from his family would contest the next Assembly elections in Karnataka. All incumbent party MLAs would be given ticket, he said.
He said “five major corporate houses” had “crowned” Mr. Modi as the prime ministerial candidate in 2013, and “the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh later put its seal of approval”.
On Krishna
Mr. Gowda refused to comment on reports of the former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna and actor-turned politician M.H. Ambareesh joining the BJP, but said, “I really don’t know about the bitter experiences of Krishna in the Congress. Ambareesh is a popular actor and has influence on people across the State.”
Recalling the treatment meted out to leaders such as Rajashekhar Murthy, S. Bangarappa and Mr. Kumaraswamy, he said, “The BJP is good at sidelining anybody who support it in Karnataka.”
