The Hindu : Front Page : Vajpayee is my model: Kumaraswamy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 31, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Vajpayee is my model: Kumaraswamy

Staff Correspondent

H.D. Kumaraswamy

TUMKUR: "The former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee is my model. Mr. Vajpayee ruled the country for six years without giving room for any communal clashes. BJP was for the first time dubbed communal in 1994. The party was not considered untouchable in politics till then,'' Chief Minister-designate H.D. Kumaraswamy has said.

He was talking to presspersons at Sri Siddaganga Math here on Monday after meeting its head, Shivakumara Swamiji. "I have my father on one side and the MLAs on the other. My father wants mid-term election. The MLAs do not want it. I cannot run away from the challenge thrown at me by the Opposition [he meant Congress]," he said.

Mr. Kumaraswamy said he is in a dilemma over forming the Ministry in alliance with BJP. He said his father, H.D. Deve Gowda, spoke to him for nearly 90 minutes on Monday morning and advised him to change his mind. Mr. Deve Gowda did not want him to align with the BJP for he pursued politics for over five decades fighting against communal forces.

Mr. Kumaraswamy said he will not go in for communalism or secularism, but choose development as his sole policy. "I [as Chief Minister] will not just sit in the Vidhana Soudha. I will go around the villages and bring about quicker development. I can satisfy my father at least that way,'' he said. "I prefer to keep close and direct contact with the people, understand their problems and solve them on-the-spot. I will ensure justice for all sections of society,''he said.

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