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Third alternative is emerging stronger: Gowda

Special Correspondent

Hits out at both Congress, BJP for projecting prime ministerial candidates

— Photo: S. Subramanium

FOCUS ON RURAL POOR: Janata Dal (Secular) president H. D. Deve Gowda and vice-president Bapu Kaldate releasing the party manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections, in New Delhi on Monday.

NEW DELHI: Janata Dal (Secular) chief and the former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, on Monday said the third alternative was emerging stronger and it would form the next government at the Centre.

While he did not want to comment on NCP president Sharad Pawar, Mr. Gowda pointed out that Naveen Patnaik of the BJD had extended support to the third alternative at a recent rally in Bhubaneswar.

Mr. Gowda was reacting to a query by journalists on the “hesitation” on the part of Mr. Pawar and Mr. Patnaik in openly supporting the third alternative. “There is absolutely no problem in the third alternative,” he said.

Mr. Gowda, who earlier released the party manifesto, said that for both the BJP and Congress “the prime ministerial candidate is more important than any constructive policy and programme.” Both the parties “have already projected their prime ministerial candidates ... A meaningless and irrelevant debate is on about the future prime minister.”

By projecting their next Prime Ministerial candidates, the national parties think they had solved a great national problem, he said.

Mr. Gowda pooh-poohed speculation that JD(S) Kerala president and Lok Sabha member M.P. Veerendra Kumar would work against the LDF government. The election campaign undertaken by Mathew T. Thomas, who was the Transport Minister in the LDF government and representative of the JD(S), with Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan a few days ago indicated that things were now going on smoothly between the Kerala government and JD(S) State unit. Mr. Thomas quit from the Cabinet following problems in seat-sharing between the CPI(M) and the JD(S).

Manifesto highlights

The JD(S) manifesto focusses on the rural poor, with Mr. Gowda promising to write off all loans of small and marginal farmers borrowed from cooperative and public sector banks from 1991 onwards. A government to be formed at the Centre with the JD(S) support would repay these loans to banks in instalments so that the banking institutions would not suffer.

The JD(S) would create a semi-judicial authority to conduct arbitration proceedings in the case of disputes relating to private money lenders. Similarly, it would give top priority to completion of the irrigation projects by doubling the outlay on accelerated irrigation scheme that was introduced in 1996 (during his prime ministership). A national agriculture price stabilisation fund would be created by allotting Rs.5,000 crore to provide price support for food grain crops and fruit and vegetable crops.

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