Hyderabad, August 12: Former Karnataka chief minister and Lok Shakti president Ramakrishna Hegde has ridiculed Congress leaders' craving for Sonia Gandhi's entry to revitalise the party.Talking to ENS, he said dependence of a political party with 125-year history on a single individual exposed the bankruptcy of Congress. It was unfortunate that even a senior leader like Arjun Singh believed that only Sonia could save the party.On the elusive sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, Hegde said ``It is total surrender of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments to Veerappan.'' The two governments lack proper strategy and necessary political will to capture the smuggler, he added.Referring to the demand of amnesty, he said according to the rule of law, guilty should be punished. If Veerappan's demand was conceded, it would demoralise the administration and public, he added.In the press conference held earlier, Hegde said coalition governments would continue to rule the country for another 15 years however coalitions should be formed prior to elections on the basis of ideology, social justice and secularism. He also felt that the BJP should also participate in the government by changing some of its policies.Asserting that his party Lok Shakti would form the government in Karnataka after the next elections, Hegde said the Janata Dal would disintegrate.
