Show me one party that has not associated with BJP: Deve Gowda on forging oppn alliance
Bengaluru(PTI): JDS Supremo H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday said he could not tell which party was communal and which was not, as he did not sound very optimistic about the ongoing efforts to forge an anti-BJP front nationally, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The former PM sought to know if there was a single party in the country that has had no association with the BJP, either directly or indirectly.
"I can analyse in detail about this country's politics, what is the use? Show me one party which has not associated with the BJP, either directly or indirectly. Show me one party in the whole country, then I will answer," Gowda said in response to a question about Bihar CM Nitish Kumar trying to forge an anti BJP front at the national level.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "Some Congress leaders may say -- but, had they not gone to Karunanidhi (of DMK), who supported BJP for six years, whether directly or indirectly.... that's why I don't want to discuss the political atmosphere prevailing in this country, there is no need, I have seen it as PM, CM, as MP...what happened in Maharashtra? I can quote several incidents."
Declining to comment on a query about leading or joining a front against BJP on the request of like minded parties, Gowda said, "who is communal, who is not communal, I don't know. First of all, the definition of communal and non communal -- it can be enlarged, then the scope is much..."
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had called a meeting of opposition parties in Patna on June 12. The event has now been postponed.
Amid reports in a section of media that JD(S) would enter into an alliance with the BJP to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the party veteran said he and his party would not pay attention to such things.
"Regarding the Parliament election, there are a variety of things, we are not going to pay attention to it. Our party, our strength -- our karyakartas are our strength -- by unifying and encouraging them, we will have to work towards strengthening the regional party, save it and move ahead."
Pointing to the presence of strong regional parties in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, he said, "In that direction we will have to strive towards strengthening and nurturing the JD(S) by giving more strength to youth."
He also said that he had advised the constitution of a "high level" committee with representation from all communities for strengthening the party.
Asked if he would once again contest Lok Sabha polls, Gowda said, he is 91-year-old now and that question does not arise.
"How many candidates will be fielded for MP elections and from where, all those things will be decided later. The priority is to identify our strengths in zilla, taluk and corporation polls. After that we will look at Parliament polls, we will contest wherever we can based on our strength. We had a tie up with RSP and communist party, our leaders will decide in this regard," he added
Gowda said he has called a meeting of party leaders to discuss the party's performance in the recently held Assembly polls, organising, strengthening the party and restructuring of taluk and district units wherever necessary ahead of the upcoming zilla, taluk and corporation polls; and preparation for 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"I don't want to speak about Congress or BJP or the promises they made and about their implementation. What is before us is the upcoming elections....we will not sit quietly, I'm 91 and I'm also ready to work with you. I call on all party leaders, especially youths, to work towards building the party and prepare for the polls," he said.
JD(S) has to start preparing for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) polls, and the party has to identify candidates in the places where we were not fielding, he said, "I'm ready to travel wherever the party asks me to go for organizing and building the party , there is no question of me sitting idle."
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Misuse of power, money to control election mechanism seen during Maharashtra polls: Sharad Pawar
Pune (PTI): NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday claimed the misuse of power and money to control the entire election mechanism, which was never before seen in any state assembly or national polls, was witnessed in Maharashtra.
Pawar made the statement when he visited senior activist Dr Baba Adhav, who is protesting against the alleged "misuse of EVMs" in the recent state polls in Maharashtra.
Adhav, who is in his 90s, began his three-day protest at Phule Wada, the residence of social reformer Jyotiba Phule, in the city on Thursday.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), have been alleging manipulation of EVMs in the recently held Maharashtra Assembly elections, which saw a landslide victory by the Mahayuti.
The Mahayuti, comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP, won 230 out of 288 assembly seats in the November 20 polls, while the MVA managed just 46 seats.Talking to reporters, Pawar said elections were conducted recently in the country, and there is a restlessness among the people about these.
Baba Adhav's agitation represents this restlessness, he said.
He said, "There is a murmur among the people that the recent polls in Maharashtra saw 'misuse of power' and 'floods of money', which was never seen in the past. Such things are heard of in local-level polls, but taking over the entire election mechanism with the help of money and misuse of power was not seen before. However, we witnessed it in Maharashtra, and people are restless now."
He added that people were recalling late socialist ideologue Jaiprakash Narayan and felt somebody should take a step forward.
"I heard Baba Adhav has taken a lead into this issue and is agitating at Phule Wada. His protest gives hope to the people, but it is not enough. A mass revolt is necessary, as the danger of the parliamentary democracy getting destroyed looms," Pawar said.
The former Union minister said those who have reins of the country in their hands are least bothered about this.
"Despite widespread discussion over it (alleged misuse of EVMs) in the country, whenever the opposition tries to raise the issue in the Parliament, they are not allowed to speak. Opposition leaders have been seeking an opportunity to speak on these issues for six days, but their demands have not been accepted even once. It shows they want to attack parliamentary democracy," he claimed.
He said Dr Adhav's protest is a fine example of someone revolting against the issue and expressed confidence that his protest will create a ripple effect.
