Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was a good choice for the post of Prime Minister and his party was willing to whole heartedly support her candidature, said JDS supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda.
Deve Gowda, who visited Srirangam on Friday to attend the national conference of Kamaraj Foundation of India, told media persons that he would be happy to see a person from South India occupying the 7 Race Course Road, and added that his party would extend its support to Jayalalithaa at the appropriate time.
Heaping praise on the AIADMK supremo, Gowda said, “If Jayalalithaa wants to become the PM, our party would welcome it and my blessings and support are always with her. I have faith in God and in this holy town (Srirangam) I say that it will become true.”
When asked about the possibility of a third front emerging as a strong force in the ensuing Lok Sabha
elections, Gowda said that in such a scenario, the chances of Jayalalithaa becoming Prime Minister would brighten.
Ruing the fact that apart from Narasimha Rao and himself, India had not seen a PM from the South, Gowda said that Jayalalithaa was certainly an eligible candidate to head the country. He added that his gut feeling was that she would make it.
Stating that the trouncing Congress received in the recently concluded Assembly elections in four states was a reflection of how fed-up the people were with it, he said that on the one hand, corruption and inflation
had shaken the faith of the people in the Congress, and on the other the emergence of the Aam Aadmi Party had ushered in a new political culture.
Suggesting a plan of action with regard to the third front, Gowda said that it was imperative that those willing to form the front devise a common draft economic and foreign affairs policy, contrary to that of the Congress and the BJP, at the onset.
Meanwhile, when asked about the recent judgment of the Apex Court regarding gay rights, Gowda said that he would stand by the BJP’s call for convening an all party meeting to discuss it.