BENGALURU: All set to sound the poll bugle, Janata Dal (Secular) is moving into a new swanky office in the city on Thursday. Named as Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) Bhavan, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda sees the party regain its vigour to storm back to power from this building which is set be the party’s headquarters from Thursday.
The regional party that has been out of power for over a decade has spent around `8 crore to build its office. Party leaders said the office was built with the help of donations from party workers.
“I decided to name it as JP Bhavan as a mark of respect to the great leader who brought second freedom to the country during emergency. He toured the country without even caring for his health to rouse public opinion against the draconian law,” Gowda told Express on Wednesday.
Recalling his association with JP, who was instrumental in installing the first non-Congress government at the Centre, the former PM said, “I first saw JP in 1952 when he had come for an election campaign to Holinarsipura (in Hassan). At that time I was a Congress worker.
Later when I was the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, we toured south Karnataka together. He was a great man and an inspiring leader. Hence I took a decision to name our party office as JP Bhavan.’’
For JD(S), the 2018 assembly elections are crucial and the party leaders seem to be trying hard to expand their base in North Karnataka, apart from trying to consolidate their hold in some districts in the Old Mysore region.
While Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress will be doing their best to retain power, BJP, riding on the Modi wave, hopes to come back to power.
On its part, JD (S) hopes that the people of the state will vote for a regional party to protect Karnataka’s interests. “In the 2018 elections, we will win 120 seats,’’ said Gowda.
Asked if he will take an initiative to form a `mahagathabandhan’ (grand coalition) of non-BJP parties to stop the Modi-Shah juggernaut in the next Lok Sabha elections, Gowda said as of now his focus is on getting the party back to power in the state and only after the state assembly elections will he think about national politics.