Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda said his party would take a call on continuing the alliance with the Congress in the next elections only if Congress’s national president Sonia Gandhi wants the alliance to continue. Speaking to presspersons at Holenarasipur on Saturday, Mr. Deve Gowda said Sonia Gandhi has taken the responsibility to lead the Congress. She had said she would take along all regional parties with her party. “If she agrees, we will take a call on fighting the next elections together,” he said.
Refusing to react to the comments made by Congress leader Siddaramaiah, Mr. Deve Gowda said he had a strong memory and he would react to his statements at the right time. Mr. Siddaramaiah, at a press conference on Friday, had blamed Mr. Deve Gowda and his children for the downfall of the H.D. Kumarasamy-led JD(S)-Congress coalition government. His allegation was in response to Mr. Deve Gowda’s remarks made in an interview to The Hindu published on Wednesday in which he had blamed Mr. Siddaramaiah for the Lok Sabha debacle.
“Will the people believe all that he [Siddaramaiah] said? We will go to the people,” said Mr. Deve Gowda. Though he and his grandson suffered defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, both of them have been amidst the people working towards strengthening the party, he said.
Mr. Deve Gowda said he had worked as a Lok Sabha member of Hassan for 25 years and he had had no plans to contest in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Though he had announced he would not contest, political developments forced him to contest from Tumakuru. He had suffered defeat in the past, but he had never lost confidence because of it. “All those who tried to defeat me have suffered a setback. I will continue to strengthen my party,” he said.