Deve Gowda not to attend Hegde's birthday function

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, AUG. 20. The former Prime Minister and Janata Dal(S) President, Mr. H.D.Deve Gowda, will not attend the 75th birthday celebrations of Mr. Ramakrishna Hegde to be held here on August 29.

An invitation had been extended to Mr. Gowda by the felicitation committee despite his known political differences with Mr. Hegde. Mr. V.S.Krishna Iyer, former Minister and close associate of Mr. Hegde, told presspersons here on Monday that Mr. Deve Gowda had expressed his inability to attend the celebrations. He had not given any reason for it. Mr. Iyer added that another former Prime Minister, Mr. I.K.Gujral, too would not attend the celebrations as he would be away in South Africa at that time.

Mr. Iyer stressed the point that the felicitation committee was non-political and was headed by Dr. Raja Ramanna. The former Prime Minister, Mr. Chandra Shekhar, the National Congress Party President, Mr. Sharad Pawar, the Union Minister, Mr. Sharad Yadav, leaders of the BJP, and others would attend the function.

It may be mentioned that it was only in reply to a question at a press conference held on August 13 that the State Janata Dal(U) President, Mr. C.Byre Gowda, said that an invitation would be extended to Mr. Deve Gowda.

Had Mr. Deve Gowda accepted the invitation, it would have strengthened the hands of those advocating merger of the two Janata Dals. The final parting of ways between the two mainstays of the undivided Janata Dal came about in 1996 when Mr. Hegde was expelled from the party. Mr. Gowda, who was then the Prime Minister, had acted in concert with the then Union Minister and Hegde-baiter, Mr. C.M.Ibrahim. In the eighties, when the Janata Party and Janata Dal were in power in the State, the two leaders had fallen out and come together a few times.

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Section  : Southern States
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