08-23-2007, 09:56 PM
Well, BJP's dream is closer to reality now... a BJP CM in the south.. <!--emo&:drool--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/drool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='drool.gif' /><!--endemo-->
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Yogesh Vajpeyi | New Delhi
Deve Gowda says transfer of power will be smooth
Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (S) supremo HD Deve Gowda on Wednesday categorically denied media speculations that his party was hobnobbing with the Congress to topple the coalition Government in Karnataka before handing over the Chief Ministership to the BJP.Â
"There is no question of the Janata Dal (S) having any tie-up with the Congress, which did everything in its power to damage and destroy my party. No Congress leader either from New Delhi or Bangalore has met me in this regard," he told The Pioneer.
Gowda was in New Delhi to attend the joint-session of Parliament addressed by Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe on Wednesday. He called on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at AIIMS to inquire about his health before leaving for Bangalore.
The former Prime Minister rubbished speculations about the JD(S) joining hands with the Congress instead of transferring the Chief Minister's post to the BJP on October 3 as per the coalition agreement. "All media reports about the Karnataka Congress leaders having met me for a rapprochement are baseless. I have neither met any Congress leader nor had any communication with the party," the JD(S) leader, who once led the United Front Government of non-Congress non-BJP national parties, said in an exclusive interview.
The former Prime Minister said he had received only one call each from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi seeking support for UPA candidate Pratibha Patil during the presidential election
Ruling out even the remote possibility of JD(S) having anything to do with the Congress, Gowda emphatically said: "It's impossible and you can put that in bold print."
Asked about the fate of the JD(S)-BJP coalition he reminded that his son and Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy had repeatedly said that he was ready to handover the post on October 3. "The coalition will run till the BJP does not deviate from the Karnataka Development Front (KDF) agenda," he added.
Gowda, who was one of the patriarch's of the United Front of regional parties that came to power in New Delhi in 1996, said he had not met any leader of the newly formed United National Progressive Alliance.
"My preoccupation is to consolidate my party. Other things are secondary," he said.
Asked about the prospects of a mid-term poll in the backdrop of the differences between the Congress and the Left parties over the nuclear deal, Deve Gowda said: "I don't want to comment on the merits of the deal. But if the Government has been paralysed it would be better for the country if all parties agree to seek the people's mandate.Â
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->'No tie-up with Cong'
Yogesh Vajpeyi | New Delhi
Deve Gowda says transfer of power will be smooth
Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (S) supremo HD Deve Gowda on Wednesday categorically denied media speculations that his party was hobnobbing with the Congress to topple the coalition Government in Karnataka before handing over the Chief Ministership to the BJP.Â
"There is no question of the Janata Dal (S) having any tie-up with the Congress, which did everything in its power to damage and destroy my party. No Congress leader either from New Delhi or Bangalore has met me in this regard," he told The Pioneer.
Gowda was in New Delhi to attend the joint-session of Parliament addressed by Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe on Wednesday. He called on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at AIIMS to inquire about his health before leaving for Bangalore.
The former Prime Minister rubbished speculations about the JD(S) joining hands with the Congress instead of transferring the Chief Minister's post to the BJP on October 3 as per the coalition agreement. "All media reports about the Karnataka Congress leaders having met me for a rapprochement are baseless. I have neither met any Congress leader nor had any communication with the party," the JD(S) leader, who once led the United Front Government of non-Congress non-BJP national parties, said in an exclusive interview.
The former Prime Minister said he had received only one call each from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi seeking support for UPA candidate Pratibha Patil during the presidential election
Ruling out even the remote possibility of JD(S) having anything to do with the Congress, Gowda emphatically said: "It's impossible and you can put that in bold print."
Asked about the fate of the JD(S)-BJP coalition he reminded that his son and Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy had repeatedly said that he was ready to handover the post on October 3. "The coalition will run till the BJP does not deviate from the Karnataka Development Front (KDF) agenda," he added.
Gowda, who was one of the patriarch's of the United Front of regional parties that came to power in New Delhi in 1996, said he had not met any leader of the newly formed United National Progressive Alliance.
"My preoccupation is to consolidate my party. Other things are secondary," he said.
Asked about the prospects of a mid-term poll in the backdrop of the differences between the Congress and the Left parties over the nuclear deal, Deve Gowda said: "I don't want to comment on the merits of the deal. But if the Government has been paralysed it would be better for the country if all parties agree to seek the people's mandate.Â
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