Cong no more a national party: Deve Gowda
Bangalore,
Sep
3:
Former
Prime
Minister
and
Janata
Dal
(S)
National
President
H
D
Deve
Gowda
today
opined
that
Congress
could
no
more
boast
of
being
a
national
party
as
it
had
lost
its
presence
in
many
states
in
the
country.
Addressing
a
gathering
at
the
party
office
here,
Mr
Gowda
said
no
party
can
be
built
around
an
individual
or
family
and
its
impact
was
being
felt
in
the
present
status
of
the
Congress
in
the
country.
''A political party can grow only if it had a strong base of principles and ideals acceptable to all sections of the society'' he said.
Referring to the appointment of Mr Merajuddin Patel as the State Party Chief, Mr Gowda said Mr Merajuddin was made Party President not just because he belonged to a minority community. ''He stood the test of loyalty to the party and its ideals, and hence was qualified to head the state unit,'' he said.
Announcing
his
state-wide
tour
to
strengthen
the
party
organisation
in
view
of
the
coming
elections
to
the
urban-local
bodies,
Mr
Gowda
said
''the
party
would
accommodate
equal
number
of
minorities,
dalits,
women
and
other
backward
communities
in
providing
tickets
to
contest
the
elections.''
UNI