BENGALURU: 25 years after he rose to the top position in the country, heading a coalition government at the Centre, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda is actively involved in party activities. While strengthening Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka remains his core focus, 88-year-old Gowda says political developments at the Centre will depend on how the two national parties, BJP and Congress, move forward in the next three years. Excerpts.
How has politics changed over the last 25 years?
Many political parties that were in the NDA at that time have left the alliance. Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi has got a majority, many parties, including Shiv Sena, are not with NDA now. Similarly, Congress too has become weak in many states. In UPA, 27 parties had come together when Manmohan Singh was the PM. Many of them have left that alliance. A lot of effort is required if Congress wants to unite them again and I don’t know if such a situation arises again. I am not in national politics and have confined myself to Karnataka.
Twenty-five years after you headed a coalition government at the Centre, how do you now look at your tenure as PM?
In a coalition government, it all depends upon the team leader, his commitment and how you are going to collectively work for the development of the country. In his book, TSR Subramanian (former Cabinet Secretary) has written in detail about several important decisions we took, including the Kashmir issue, relations with China and Russia and water dispute with Bangladesh, Delhi Metro project, telecom policy, stand on reservation for women and many other issues. He has also mentioned that coalition governments can do good work and how we had given corruption-free governance.
Is the unity of opposition possible and how do you look at results in the five states?
It was a big fight in West Bengal. Everyone was expecting the (BJP) to get through, but Mamata Banerjee got massive support from people and absolute majority. To some extent, it was a setback for Modi in the recent elections... We have to watch how BJP and Congress will move forward in the next three years. That is very important as they are the two national parties. As for regional parties, they have to make up their mind. Earlier, we had senior leaders like Jyoti Basu and Karunanidhi. We have to see what happens in the future.
Opposition leaders, including you, came together to write to the Centre about Covid...
Yes, I write whenever there are issues where people face problems, and not for any political combinations. I wrote to the PM as the Parliament was not in session.
Will there be coalition politics at the Centre again, with the BJP emerging strong?
BJP becoming stronger will depend on what they do in the next three years. You can’t jump to that conclusion today. Look at many problems they are facing with vaccines and other issues. The Congress is also a national party and it all depends on how it will cooperate with all secular parties. I don’t know about it.
In Karnataka, Congress seems to be consolidating its position...
Let them do it, I am not bothered about them. Naturally, both parties (BJP and Congress) will work hard to gain power in 2023.