Deve Gowda Open to Mamata Banerjee as Opposition’s PM Face for 2019

India वोट Kar | August 6, 2018

Former prime minister and JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda has said he has no objection to the opposition presenting West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee as its prime ministerial candidate for the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Gowda, 85, spoke to PTI in Delhi at the weekend, while calling for a strong front to take on the BJP.

The context

His comments came as the Congress and other opposition parties were reported to prefer to settle the question of a prime ministerial candidate after the election, fearing that raising it earlier could damage their unity. Days earlier, Congress sources had indicated the party would not object to any candidate for the top job from an opposition alliance that lacked BJP and RSS support.

Gowda, whose party governs Karnataka in coalition with the Congress, said the Congress would have a key part in bringing the opposition together. He described efforts at a third front as being at an early stage, and said Banerjee was working hard to unite non-BJP parties. He also said she had become serious about building a federal front after Assam’s draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) excluded 40 lakh people. Banerjee has sharply criticised the NRC exercise, which the BJP has defended as a matter of national security.

On a woman prime minister

Asked about backing the Trinamool chief, Gowda said: “Most welcome if Mamata is projected as PM.” He pointed out that Indira Gandhi had been prime minister for 17 years and asked why Mamata or Mayawati should not hold the post. He added that he had taken the women’s reservation bill to Parliament in 1996, the year he headed the United Front government, which lasted less than a year.

Gowda said the JD(S) had not yet tried to unite regional parties but was ready to work with others against the BJP, alleging an atmosphere of fear for minorities in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat. He said he wanted to watch how matters developed over the next 2-3 months. The Congress and the JD(S) would contest Karnataka’s 28 Lok Sabha seats together, he said, although seat sharing had not been discussed.