BALLARI: Hotting up the race to bypolls in five seats of Karnataka, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has stepped into the campaign rink. The JD(S) supremo who shared the stage with his protege-turned-ally Siddarmaiah in Ballari told Express in an interview that his support to Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s candidature as PM was absolute.
For a man who propagated the idea of a third front, Gowda is now of the opinion that a coalition government without the Congress is not even a possibility even while acknowledging that the party has no sway in at least 18 states. Deeming Karnataka’s coalition between the JD(S) and the Congress an example for all other regional parties, Gowda has taken it upon himself to lead by example and show his partymen the way forward in a coalition set-up.
Fully aware of the repercussions that the coalition government has on all non-BJP parties across the country, Gowda is careful to only send out the right messages — ones that will increase the probability of regional parties jumping on to the “secular front” bandwagon with the Congress.
With barely days to go for the bypolls to three parliamentary and two assembly seats, Gowda has kick-started his campaign with a clear message that all differences have to be buried for the coalition to work smoothly.