Janata Dal (Secular) president and the former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, on Tuesday said the government could have consulted senior leaders of political parties before going ahead with the direction to MPs and Ministers to adopt austerity measures.
“I am very hurt. This is a national issue. We would have extended our cooperation if the government had consulted us,” he told journalists here. It would certainly have been a good start if the government had consulted senior leaders of all parties and discussed how to utilise the available resources. “The parties would have certainly given suggestions and it would have been up to the government to accept them or not.”
Mr. Gowda said irrespective of whether the austerity measures were introduced or not, he was adapted to simple life. Basically he was a villager and used to walk long distances in younger days. Then it was travel by bullock cart and subsequently by bicycle. Even as an MLA, he never used the free bus pass or railway coupons worth Rs.10, 000 that Assembly members were entitled to every year. Similarly, when he was Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly he neither received salary nor pension.
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Even now he lived in the same government house that was allotted to him in Delhi in 1991 although he was eligible for a bigger one as former Prime Minister. Likewise, he used his own car instead of a government vehicle, he said. On the Maharashtra Assembly elections, he said the JD(S) had joined the Republican Left Democratic Front and it would contest in 20 seats. He and some other party leaders would campaign in the State from September 30 to October 11.
Mr. Gowda welcomed the demand made by some DMK Union Ministers to allow them to speak in Tamil in Parliament. He said the three-language formula (Hindi, English and the respective regional language) was an accepted principle as an interpretation facility was available in the House.