Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Member of Parliament for Bangalore North D.B. Chandre Gowda, who has not been given ticket to contest the Lok Sabha polls, has said that his “only regret” was the absence of a “democratic debate” before dropping his name from the list of candidates.
Speaking to presspersons on the sidelines of a programmes here on Monday, he said, “Democracy is defined by debates and discussions. My only regret is that there was no discussion with me on the question of tickets.”
Mr. Gowda said he had not sought an explanation on why he was denied ticket and the party had offered him none.
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Asked what his next course of action would be, Mr. Gowda said he would “continue in active politics, if not in electoral politics.”
He said that he would “go on like I have gone on for 45 years.”
Mr. Gowda said he was still a people’s representative and continued to be so till May 31. “Let us see about the rest after June 1,” he said.
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Mr. Gowda, however, said that he would campaign for the former Chief Minister and the party’s candidate from Bangalore North constituency D.V. Sadananda Gowda. “I have passed on the baton to him,” he added.