Gowda asks PM to call for fresh polls

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE, DEC. 25. In the light of the controversy surrounding the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, the former Prime Minister, Mr. H. D. Deve Gowda, has urged the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajapyee, to resign and call for fresh elections.

Mr. Gowda was addressing the Janata Dal(S) workers rally here on Monday. Referring to the statements made by Mr. Vajpayee that the building of Ram Temple in Ayodhya was a national sentiment, he said the BJP got only around 23 per cent of the votes in the general elections, and wondered how the temple issue could be called a national sentiment.

Stating that the country was in a crisis, he alleged that Mr. Vajpayee was denying facts on the issue of the presence of the Union Ministers, Mr. L. K. Advani, Mr. M. M. Joshi and Ms. Uma Bharthi, in Ayodhya during the Babri Masjid demolition. Ridiculing the statement made by Mr. Advani that the country had not developed as it was facing a crisis of character, Mr. Gowda said: ``The Prime Minister and the Home Minister are facing the character crisis.''

On the issue of the merger of the Janata Dal(S) and the Janata Dal(U), Mr. Gowda said he was ready to step down as the national leader of the former, if Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mr. Sharad Yadav agreed for the merger of all the Janata Dal factions. What he wanted was a secular force to counter the Congress(I) and the BJP.

Mr. Gowda blamed the Congress(I) for the growth of BJP in the country. He did not have any ambition of occupying a political post. The job of the leaders was to work for the alleviation of the problems of the people, he added.

The former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. Siddaramaiah, said that the exchequer would be empty during the Congress(I) rule, and added that the State Chief Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna, would make the State bankrupt.

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Section  : Southern States
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