Ill health kept Sharief away from joining JD(S): Gowda

It was ill-health that kept former Union Minister Jaffer Sharief from contesting polls from a JD(S) ticket from Mysore-Kodagu Lok Sabha constituency, said former Prime Minister and JD(S) president H D Deve Gowda, here on Friday.

He also dismissed possibilities of Sharief campaigning for JD(S) from the constituency, as his health has ‘deteriorated in the last few days’. “Even though he was keen on contesting from the constituency, his health problems forced him to step away from the polls,” he said.

He was speaking at an interaction programme held at the Press Club. Speaking on the Cauvery issue, he said that two major political parties of Tamil Nadu were lobbying hard at the Center to have a lion’s share of Cauvery water. Only if JD(S) candidates are elected in good numbers could the party take up the issue at the national level, so as to safeguard the interests of farmers in the State, he said.

Third Front

On accusations made by the BJP that Third Front was ‘B team’ of the Congress, he said that such accusations were common in politics. “Even the Aam Aadmi Party was accused of the same. No political party or coalition is a ‘B team’ of any other party. Every party will try to show its strength in the elections,” he said.

He said that various regional parties of the country, such as DMK, AIADMK, SP, BSP, Trinamool Congress and others would play a prominent role in the formation of a government after the polls in the country. “Since there were differences about seat sharing among regional parties, pre-poll alliance of non-BJP, non-Congress parties could not be formed,” he said. However, after polls, all regional parties would come together to decide on the alliance, he added.

Some allies of the Congress led UPA have quit the alliance already, indicating that Congress was facing a problem, he said.

Modi wave

Dismissing ‘Modi wave’ as mere propaganda by ‘three to four’ corporates and their media houses, who are backing Narendra Modi, he accused the media of carrying the propaganda forward with enthusiasm.
The ‘wave’ is to ensure that the vested interests of the corporate houses behind him are fulfilled, he said. “The total expenditure of Modi’s media management is more than Rs 200-300 crore, which speaks volumes of the propaganda machine behind him,” he said.

Commenting on Godhra riots, he criticised the Modi led BJP government’s inability to provide security to minorities during the communal riots in 2002. “Moreover, during my visit to Gujarat, the government did not even provide security to me - a former Prime Minister of the country,” he said.

Weak candidate

On Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s allegations that BJP and JD(S) have made a secret pact in Mysore-Kodagu Lok Sabha constituency by fielding a weak candidate, he said that it was the Congress that had made a pact by forcing a strong BJP candidate to contest from Hassan constituency.

JD(S) had fielded a retired judge as the candidate from Mysore-Kodagu Lok Sabha constituency. The strength of the candidate will be known after results are declared, he said.