Janata Dal (S) national president H.D. Deve Gowda has drawn up a detailed plan to revive the fortunes of the party and to return to its original glory.
In an interview with The Hindu in Kalaburagi, he unveiled the grand plan and said as a first measure, he wants to bring back all leaders who left the party and joined the Congress and the BJP in the State.
Mr. Deve Gowda said the leaders, who left JD(S), were responsible for bolstering the strength of the Congress and BJP in the State. “The JD(S) had given a Chief Minister and important Ministers to the Congress party,” he said, referring to Siddaramaiah and some of his Cabinet colleagues.
He said that not everybody who left the JD(S) were happy in other parties and there were several instances of these leaders facing humiliation and being sidelined. “We are preparing a list of those who left. I will personally call them up and appeal to them to come back to the JD(S) and strengthen it.”
“We know our weaknesses and in North Karnataka the party has lost its base due to various reasons…we will regain lost space in North Karnataka by going to the people and taking up their cause.”
Mr. Deve Gowda said he would begin his tour to rebuild the party from the grassroots level in Bidar. In the first phase, Mr. Gowda would tour Bidar, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur and Koppal and in the second phase cover the Bombay Karnataka region.
He said the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has been entrusted the responsibility of visiting the villages and giving new strength to the party. “My aim in life is to revive lost glory and place the JD(S) on a high pedestal in State politics,” Mr. Deve Gowda said.
