Mangaluru: The Janatha Dal (Secular) Supremo and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda on his visit to the city on Saturday, October 15 spoke about key decisions made by the party in strengthening their base in Dakshina Kannada. Keeping the district in mind as priority, his party will also focus on developing Dakshina Kannada’s neighbouring districts over time.
In a press meet that he had called for in the Circuit House, he mentioned that the party has lost a lot of support in this region after some of his strongholds quit the party. “I have no enmity with the leaders who left the party. But I have full confidence in our party that we can make it to the top”, He said.
“Effective campaigning in Kolar and Chikkaballapur has already been done and we intend to focus on Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Shivamogga, Chikkamagalur, Hassan and then Bengaluru. The party has to revive it’s power in the coastal districts and it will be done as soon as possible”, he said with immense confidence.
He said that there were times when people asked him why he is taking part so actively in politics even at this age, to which he replies that the regional party is most important in conducting various developments in the areas. “Regional leadership is very important to take the party to greater heights. I am sure that the party can be strengthened from Dakshina Kannada and then focus on the districts where we have a weak foothold”, he added.
He recalled that during his 10 month term as the Prime Minister of India, there were no communal clashes in any part of the country. Speaking about the plans for development he had for Mangaluru city, he said, “During my term as PM, I had proposed that Mangaluru should be an industrial capital of the country. But there were pressures from other political powers that tourism should be given more importance than industries. It is good to see that after 20 years of giving the proposal, Mangaluru airport has finally become an international one.
When asked about his take on the Uniform Civil Code, he said that there are greater things to worry about than to ponder about one topic. “Things go wrong in the country when politics takes a higher stand than agriculture. There are farmers who are committing suicide at the drop of a hat and we have to do something for their development. It is more important that we shift focus to the agriculture sector from politics and help out the 60 percent of Indian population who toil in their fields to feed the country”, he asserted.
Deve Gowda concluded that the JD(S) party is going to contest for all the seats of Karnataka with complete dedication and confidence that he has in JD(S) candidates.
The selected candidates for the next election from all constituencies in Dakshina Kannada were present at the meeting along with the regional JD(S) leaders.
Shivamogga MLA extends support to Deve Gowda
Madhu Bangarappa, the MLA of Sorab in Shivamogga conducted a press meet after Deve Gowda went to a meeting with party workers. He said that there is a common misconception that JD(S) is a party run by Deve Gowda and sons, while actually it is not. “The misconception was made by the other parties to put JD(S) down”, he added.
“The JD(S) party workers do not think of Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy to be the father and son duo who take all the credit for work done by the party. We believe that Kumaraswamy is the only person who can lead the party in every region”, he said adding that when he joined JD(S), his father S Bangarappa too was in JD(S). But, when the latter quit JD(S) and joined the BJP, a large chunk of followers too went along with Bangarappa.
“This also had a major impact in coastal belt,” he said
Speaking about how the minorities are taken advantage of, Madhu said, “Both the national parties are using the support of minorities to rise in fame. But JD(S) does not insist to doing such a thing because we want sustainable growth among all our supporters.”
He also proposed that Narayana Guru Jayanthi should be celebrated not with a holiday, but with acknowledgement to the young generation about Narayana Guru’s teachings and contributions. “A Narayana Guru shrine should also be established”, Madhu added.
