The Hindu : National : JD(S) to maintain equidistance from BJP, Congress

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Friday, May 07, 2004

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National

JD(S) to maintain equidistance from BJP, Congress

By Our Staff Reporter

KOZHIKODE, MAY 6. The former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader, H.D. Deve Gowda, today said he would support any secular front only if it accepted his party's manifesto. His party was maintaining equidistance from both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.

Speaking at the Press Club here, he ruled out the possibility of his party aligning with "fundamentalist forces like the BJP." Asked about the former Prime Minister, V.P. Singh's call to the people to vote for the Congress, he said Mr. Singh was not the leader of the JD(S). "I am not compromising with the Congress' economic policies. Deve Gowda is not part of the alliance formed by the Congress."

The JD(S), which was contesting in 36 Lok Sabha seats, was fighting not for power but for those suffering due to the economic reforms. The party manifesto had raised the issue. "More than 800 farmers have committed suicide across the country. Even in Kerala and Karnataka, they are committing suicide. Handloom weavers are dying. And they [the BJP] are talking of India shining. Our party has said in its manifesto that it will write off the farmers' loans if voted to power. [The Congress president] Sonia Gandhi and [the Prime Minister] Atal Bihari Vajpayee cannot understand the problems of the farmers," he said.

Mr. Gowda held the BJP and the Congress responsible for the present state of politics. "Values have eroded. Ms. Jayalalithaa, who was responsible for the fall of the Vajpayee Government, is now with the BJP. The DMK, which was alleged to be involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, has now sided with the Congress. Now, it is politics of survival."

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