Not wrong if Rahul wants to be PM: Gowda

JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda said on Tuesday that there was nothing wrong if Congress president Rahul Gandhi wishes to become prime minister.

Speaking to media persons here, he said leaders of non-BJP parties attended the swearing-in ceremony of H D Kumaraswamy as Karnataka chief minister and it laid the foundation for the re-union of non-BJP parties.

But BJP is under the impression that BSP chief Mayawati is not part of the grand alliance, which is not true. All secular forces have come together. “At last, we have realised that we can’t do anything without Congress,” Gowda said.

He said non-BJP parties emerged victorious in 12 byelections out of 13 in the country after all the secular forces came together. So, the byelections to three Lok Sabha constituencies and two Assembly constituencies in the state, slated to be held on November 3, will be an indicator to the Lok Sabha elections next year.

The Modi-led government failed to fulfil promises made before the polls and it did not control inflation.

The prices of essential commodities have gone up, Gowda said.

He said BJP, which believes more in Hindutva than development, knows nothing about communal harmony. Let it bring oppressed classes and backward classes to the mainstream of society. He suggested the party leaders to contain violence against dalits and minorities that are taking place in states ruled by the BJP.