Deve Gowda promotes Nitish and Jayalalithaa for PM post

MYSORE: Even as he has joined hands with Left leaders trying to cobble together non-Congress and non-BJP bloc, former PM H D Deve Gowda on Sunday spoke his mind about the PM candidate from the Third Front-like combine.
He said he is not in the race to be the PM again but indicated that he will support SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar or Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa."I'm not in the race to be the PM. Let Mulayam, Nitish or Jayalalithaa become the PM," he said addressing OBC meet hosted by JD(S) at Maharaja's College Grounds. Pointing out that he has not occupied any post after he stepped down as the PM in April 1997, he said: "If I were power hungry, I would have taken support from BJP when Atal Bihari Vajapyee sent me feelers the day I stepped down. Had I accepted the offer, neither Gowda nor JD(S) would have survived," he said arguing that he is not interested to be the PM in case the next Lok Sabha election throws up a fractured mandate.
Tracking his political career of six decades, Gowda said he was upset that Congress and BJP leaders have denigrated the political discourse. Gowda, who had held a convention at the Maharaja's College Grounds after he was defeated in 1991 parliamentary polls, recollected it to stress that he has never thought of relaxing in his political fight. "During my political fight, I was jailed when I learnt that my wife has serious illness. My son Revanna quit studies to take care of his ailing mother while Kumaraswamy was forced to jump into politics quitting his association with the film industry. I've sold my sister's property to pay expenses incurred in my political fight." Gowda, who was the PM for eleven months from June 1996. Interestingly, Gowda batted for Jayalalithaa for the PM post. "If she becomes the PM, she will be become Amma to the nation."
According to him, Congress and BJP have failed to protect the interests of Karnataka farmers in the Cauvery row and TN CM's elevation as the PM could help to resolve the long standing crisis. "I'll ask her to quench the thirst of the state farmers," he stated.
Taking on CM Siddaramaiah, he said JD(S) is not a party that belongs to one family and asked his contribution for the uplift of the OBCs. "Siddaramaiah had said that JD(S) has lost its stronghold of Mandya and Bangalore Rural parliamentary constituencies in the aftermath of our defeat during the by-polls. We'll see."
He hinted that his grandson Prajwal Gowda will get into politics. "Revanna's son Prajwal Gowda is focused on the elections. An engineering graduate when I asked him to do post graduation, he said he will elect me to the Lok Sabha and focus on further studies."
Former CM H D Kumaswamy and JD(S) state unit chief A Krishnappa were present.