K'taka: Gowda says no talks with Congress
New
Delhi,
Nov
20:
Janata
Dal
(Secular)
chief
H
D
Deve
Gowda
today
welcomed
the
Union
Cabinet's
decision
to
seek
dissolution
of
the
Karnataka
Assembly
and
refuted
reports
that
he
was
negotiating
with
the
Congress
to
form
another
coalition
government
in
the
state.
Mr
Gowda
said
that
he
had
neither
met
anyone
in
the
Congress
nor
made
any
attempt
to
reach
out
to
them
as
being
projected
in
a
section
of
the
media.
''People think that I will receive a drubbing in the elections and all they have to do is wait for six more months...If we don't return with a bigger strength you can stop recognising us,'' he stated.
Defending his November one letter laying down 12 conditions for extending support to the BJP-led coalition, Mr Gowda said it was made with the ''fond hope and belief'' that it would generate positive incumbency witnessed in the first 20 months of running the coalition.
He also said the conduct and attitude of BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa was not conducive to running a coalition, resulting in JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy and his family members facing public humiliation time and again.
Mr Gowda circulated a set of stamp papers considered by the BJP Parliamentary Board which had two conditions. The first was that the portfolios held by 18 ministers including that of Deputy Chief Minister be transfered to the JD(S) except major and medium irrigation department which should be retained by the BJP to compensate for the PWD and Energy Deparment of the JD(S).
The second was that the JD(S) should retain Urban Development in full and Mines and Geology to compensate for the Health and Family Welfare Department and Excise Department to be retained by the BJP.
Asked if the BJP had betrayed him, Mr Gowda said he did not want to use such words against anybody. ''Now that the assembly will be dissolved, I will welcome it and go to the people.'' He also denied that there was a family war going on among his sons.
Dismissing allegations that the JD (S) was a power-hungry party, he said his party had not imposed any power transfer conditions when it entered into a deal with the Congress to make Mr Dharam Singh the Chief Minister. ''The alliance would have worked well if forces in the Congress had not worked to destabilise the coalition.'' he said.
UNI