‘I will expose BJP betrayal during poll’

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After remained away from the limelight for a short while due to health reasons, former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda is back in action. The JD(S) supremo appears subdued but retains his cheerful countenance, maybe due to the care and advice provided by his doctors. Sitting in a room at the JD(S) office here, Mr Gowda spoke about a range of issues from state politics to national controversies. Though he repeatedly said he would not like to criticize any leader, he could not his emotions while speaking about former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa. Depsite his age and his health condition, Mr Gowda is determined to go on a state-wide tour and exuded confidence that his party would be able to defeat the BJP in the next polls. Here are excerpts from an interview.

Q: To begin with, the Cauvery crisis has hit the headlines again. What do you think is the solution to this vexed problem?
A: Without taking into account ground realities, the Cauvery River Authority (CRA) headed by the Prime Minister has asked Karnataka to release 9,000 cusecs. This is unacceptable. How can you pass an order without factoring in the ground reality? I am convinced that for this problem, we cannot find a solution politically.

Q: Do you think Congress ministers from the state failed to lobby on Karnataka’s behalf?
A: I do not want to comment on anyone. It makes no sense pointing fingers at someone else. This is the time to be united. So, I welcomed the chief minister’s decision not to release water to Tamil Nadu. We have to co-operate with the government.

Q: Moving on to national politics, you became Prime Minister when the Third Front was formed in the Nineties. Is there a possibility of the Third Front emerging again this time?
A: Last time, the United Front came to existance only after the election. After 13 days in power, the Vajpayee government lost the trust vote. Then Congress president P.V. Narasimha Rao convened a Congress Working Committee meeting and took a decision to back secular parties. As a result, all regional and Left parties came together to form the United Front.

Q: Do you perceive any change in the circumstances compared to those in the mid-nineties or are the conditions more favourable now for the formation of the Third Front?
A: I know there is an anti-Congress anti-BJP mood across the country. The Third Front may emerge. The only new development is states having two non-BJP and non-Congress parties. In Andhra Pradesh, TDP was there in the Nineties and now the YSR Congress has entered the political scene. When we formed the United Front, Janata Dal was united and now you can see RJD and JD (U), two non-BJP and non-Congress parties in Bihar. I can only say that though there is a mood for forming a Third Front, talks have not yet begun.

Q: Coming back to Karnataka, how do you perceive the situation?
A: We have our own base. We have a presence in Kerala too. We are gearing up for elections which may come early next year.

Q: In 1994 and in 2004, you had scores of leaders from different communities like Kuruba stalwart Siddaramaiah. Do you think the absence of these leaders will weaken your party?
A: Wait wait...Do you think I won Hassan parliamentary seat or the Holenarasipura assembly seat in the past, only because of Vokkaliga votes? That’s absolutely a wrong notion. A sizable chunk of voters of the Kuruba and Lingayat commuities and a major OBC block is backing me. I do not want to criticise anyone. The question is not about leaders and the effect they have. When we were in government, we decentralised power. As a result, we succeeded in developing a base for our party. What late Devraj Urs could not achieve, we did. We identified microscopic minorities and started promoting leaders from these sections. That made the real difference.

Q: But, people still call you a Vokkaliga leader.
A: People like you write this. How can I stop that? Deve Gowda has contested 14 elections so far and won 12. Do you think I could win elections only on the basis of Vokkaliga votes? Absolutely no. Caste is not the lone factor that works in ensuring the victory of a candidate. When Justice Kuldip Singh was involved in changing the contours of constituencies (delimitation), I told him: You do whatever you want and tinker with my constituency, you cannot change my destiny (pointing at his forehead). If you are asking about caste politics keeping Mr Yeddyurappa in mind, I do not want to speak about it. It is nonsense. That kind of politics will not last long.

Q: There is a buzz that Siddaramaiah is set to return to the JD(S). Comment.
A: No, I cannot answer hypothetical questions. If I speak about this, it would be tantamount to undermining their leadership qualities. I have stopped discussing individuals. I only discuss issues.

Q: Do you approve of film stars joining your party?
A: I thik, the trend of film stars joining politics started in Tamil Nadu long ago. Later, a similar trend started in Andhra Pradesh. Then the national parties, Congress and BJP, started accommodating film actors. If film stars voluntarily come forward to join our party, we cannot say no to them. There is nothing wrong in it.

Q: With regard to fielding or supporting candidates in the Rajya Sabha or Legislative Council polls, there is a view within the JD(S) that party state president H.D. Kumaraswamy deviated from the principles laid down by you.
A: In the recent council elections, we backed an independent candidate. We have 26 MLAs. After alloting 19 votes to our own candidate, we had seven surplus votes. We could not have supported a candidate fielded by another political party. That was the right decision.

Q: How are the poll preparations going for the assembly elections?
A: We have formed four committees which will go to different parts of the state. They do not have the power to select candidates. They will give reports to the state unit and these reports will be placed before the state parliamentary board. Once it approves the names, they will go to the central parliamentary board which will finalise the names.

Q: Will you give a lot of weightage to caste during the selection of candidates?
A: As I already told you, you can sell caste one day but you cannot fool people by whipping up caste sentiments again and again. Last time, BJP made all kinds of allegations and people fell prey to them. This time I will expose them. I will tell people who betrayed whom. In reality, the BJP betrayed us in 2007 when a BJP-JD(S) government was in power. I have documents to prove this. And this time when I hit the campaign trail, I will place these records before the public. I am still alive to give a befitting reply to the BJP. I can reveal what was discussed between me and then BJP president Rajnath Singh. The meeting was held at a Rajya Sabha member’s house.

Q: There is speculation that a few more members of your family will enter politics before the elections. Is it true?
A: As long as I am alive, this cannot happen. The family is not born to rule. We are in a democracy. The party is committed to fight casteism and communalism. At the same time, if the legislature party makes H.D. Kumaraswamy its leader, you cannot blame me.

Q: Finally, as his father, would you say that H.D. Revanna has not been treated fairly politically?
A: (emotional) No. He is a god-fearing person. He is a gentleman. He does not even come to office, nor is he bothered who becomes the party candidate. Come to think of it, both of them (Kumaraswamy and Revanna) are gems.