BENGALURU: Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda is not one to give up when it comes to elections, general or assembly. At 88, the veteran leader has already completed the first leg of his tour in bypoll-bound Sindagi constituency, and is expected to commit himself for another 8-10 days from Monday.
He landed at Sindagi on Sunday evening, and spoke to party candidate Naziya Shakeel Ahmed Angadi at her house, on the election. “I will campaign in rural areas. Instead of holding public meetings, I will meet farmers, women and youth. I will list out their grievances and present facts before them, so they can decide whether to vote for JDS or not,” Gowda told The New Indian Express.
“When he was chief minister, Gowda had released Rs 1,970 crore against implementation of Upper Krishna Project in North Karnataka, and Rs 800 crore when he became Prime Minister,” said former MLC
Y S V Datta. For that matter, former JDS minister M C Managuli, whose untimely death necessitated the bypolls, had even erected a statue of Gowda, in recognition of the latter’s contributions.
While former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and son Nikhil concentrate on Hanagal, joining Gowda in Sindagi will be his grandson and Hassan LS member Prajwal Revanna, informed a source. The JDS supremo is particular about Sindagi because he claimed to have groomed Managuli, a dominant Panchamashali community leader, during the latter’s early stage as politician. He made Managuli win against all odds, as some leaders within the then Janata Dal were opposed to him, and later, he even became a minister.