Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda has asserted that he will continue as national president and lead the party from the front, refuting speculation of any rift with his son and the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.
“There is no question of retiring from politics,” he told The Hindu. He dismissed reports that Mr. Kumaraswamy had asked him to retire from politics and work as “mentor.”
Admitting that both his sons Mr. Kumaraswamy and H.D. Revanna had met him recently, Mr. Gowda said he had advised them to build the party from the grassroots, in view of successive failures of the party in the elections. It is important to instil confidence in the cadre and leaders, he said.
He said the real fight to build the party will commence from August 18, when a strategy to revitalise it would be designed at a meeting of “dedicated workers and leaders.” Mr. Gowda admitted that there was an increase in resentment in the party over selection of candidates for Assembly polls and not fielding any candidates in the bypolls.
“But the party could gain 35 seats in the Old Mysore region because of my efforts,” he asserted, adding that the decision against fielding candidates in the bypolls was purely because of fund crunch.
Mr. Gowda said that his biography, to be released on January, 2015, would be a candid account that would answer many of the questions raised about him and his party.
(The Hindu)
