‘State could see early Assembly elections’

Deve Gowda cites speedy inauguration of several development works as reason for the possible early polls

Traditional welcome: Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and his wife being welcomed by Congress leader N. Pratap Reddy’s family in Ballari on Monday.

H.D. Deve Gowda, Janata Dal (Secular) supremo and former Prime Minister, suspected that the State could witness early elections to the Assembly.

“Going by the speed with which the ruling Congress has been going ahead with the inauguration of several developmental works in various districts, provides a suspicion that elections to the Assembly are around the corner,” he said.

Mr. Deve Gowda, accompanied by his wife, flew from Bengaluru to Jindal airport and drove to Ballari to attend the reception of Congress leader N. Pratap Reddy’s son. He was responding to questions by presspersons on Monday.

He said that the JD(S) had decided to fight the ensuing elections to the Assembly on its own, seeking the blessings and support of the people to vote the party into power.

When his attention was drawn to the Mission 150 set by BJP’s national president Amit Shah, Mr. Deve Gowda said. “Our’s is a regional party while the BJP and Congress are powerful national parties with abundant resources, including money and manpower. We, without money and power, will go to the people explaining our contribution for the welfare of the State made during my tenure as Minister, as Chief Minister and also as Prime Minister, and seek the blessing and support of the people, without which no party, especially a regional one will be able to come to power,” he observed.

Cloud seeding

About the cloud seeding proposed by the State government in the wake of a likely drought for the third year in succession owing to the failure of rainfall in the State, Mr. Deve Gowda said he did not believe in cloud seeding as, going by the previous experienc, it was not guaranteed.