Gowda proposes Janata Parivar unity plan

Hinting at the possibility of erstwhile Janata Parivar coming together, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Thursday mooted a new 'confederation' of "non-BJP and non-Congress" and the Left to resurrect Third Front to emerge as an alternative to the Congress and the BJP. Shekhar Iyer reports.

Hinting at the possibility of erstwhile Janata Parivar coming together, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Thursday mooted a new 'confederation' of "non-BJP and non-Congress" and the Left to resurrect Third Front to emerge as an alternative to the Congress and the BJP.

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He asked RJD's Lalu Prasad Yadav and Samajwadi Party's Mulayam, who were once part of the old Janata Dal, to sink their past differences so all that splinter socialist groups could come together on a common plank.

Gowda, who was prime minister between June 1996 and April 1997 of a United Front government, which was backed by the Congress and the Left, saw a right timing in the new move because "the Congress is declining and people know what the BJP is."

He made it clear he wasn't mooting a merger of all erstwhile Janata Dal splinters into one party as "it isn't possible and each of us have cadres to take care."

"But we can begin now to create a credible alternative to the Congress-led UPA and BJP-led NDA, which have failed to satisfy people because of corruption, price rise and rising poverty levels," he told his Janata Dal(Secular)'s plenary, which elected him against as its president.

Gowda said he would not mind granting leadership to the Left to formulate the "alternative policies and programme" because they have had experience in this regard before. "We are good at others things." He described CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat's latest initiative on Thursday for a campaign by like-minded parties against the UPA policies as "an important beginning."

He said, "Let's make it very clear. It's not some plan where I see myself as prime minister again. It's not for power. People are tired of the Congress and have seen the BJP when it comes to governance and corruption. They are seeking an alternative now, and we must be ready to provide it."

Addressing the JD(S) plenary session, Gowda, who has headed his party since 1999, seemed to extend an olive branch to Lalu, saying the allegations concerning the infamous animal fodder cases paled into insignificance "when one considers what's happening under the BJP rule in Karnataka."

Lalu had been upset with Gowda since investigation into the fodder scam gathered in 1997 when he was prime minister and had to quit as chief minister of Bihar. Later, Lalu broke away the Janata Dal to form RJD.

Later, Gowda told HT, "we attempted to create a Third Front before the Lok Sabha polls in 2009 by trying to come together at a rally in Tumkur. That didn't work then. We must start work right away by preparing a common minimum programme and alternative policy formulations so that people will give us a chance again."

The 77-year-old leader did not mince words in criticizing the "corruption-ridden" Congress at the centre for "allowing chaos under B S Yeddyurappa by refusing to listen to the advice of governor Hansraj Bhardwaj." He wondered whether there was a "tacit" deal between the BJP and the Congress to let Yeddyurappa to stay on in office when "the scams have hit the ceiling."

Gowda took a snipe at senior BJP leader L K Advani, asking him, "how are you tolerating corruption under Yeddyurappa in Karnataka when you want all black money stashed away in Swiss banks to be brought back?"

Gowda's call to unite old Janata boys
o A loose confederation of non-BJP, non-Cong parties
o No merger of all Janata Dal splinter groups
o Left to play a pivotal role as an alternative policy initiative
o Timing is right because of Congress' decline and BJP's image
o Credibility for new Third Front needs to be built up ahead of 2014 polls