Karnataka - Mangalore   

JD(S)-BJP coalition won't last: Vayalar Ravi

Special Correspondent

It is a mockery of democracy and a coalition of convenience, says the Union Minister

Vayalar Ravi

MANGALORE: Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi has termed the Janata Dal (Secular)-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition in Karnataka a mockery of democracy and a coalition of convenience.

Speaking to the presspersons here on Friday on his way to Kerala, Mr. Ravi said while the JD(S) was aligned with the Left parties elsewhere, it was aligned with the BJP in Karnataka. How long the JD(S) national president H.D. Deve Gowda would be able to hold the coalition together was a moot question, Mr. Ravi said.

`Ridiculous situation'

Stating that this "ridiculous situation" could not continue for long, Mr. Ravi said he had experience in arranging "poll-related coalitions" in Karnataka and he would give the JD(S)-BJP coalition not more than a few months. The ideological differences between the parties were too wide to be ignored, he said.

The senior Congress leader said that in Kerala, where the Left parties have a "confused fusion" and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is yet to make an entry, there is no alternative to the Congress.

He said the Oommen Chandy government was not facing an anti-incumbency factor, and the positive development model had helped the State garner foreign direct investment. Investment from other sectors was poised to enter Kerala. He said that under the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in the past the State did not have an investor-friendly atmosphere, but that situation had changed and various projects had come as a boon to the State's economy. The Smart City project was poised to take off, Mr. Ravi said.

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