Therere many PM candidates8230; the basic issue is peoples mandate

An extremely religious man,former prime minister and Janata Dal Secular president H D Deve Gowda always starts his day with puja even during elections....

An extremely religious man,former prime minister and Janata Dal Secular president H D Deve Gowda always starts his day with puja even during elections. At the home of his second son,H D Revanna,in the family borough of Holenarasipura in the Hassan parliamentary constituency,where he is contesting again the former prime minister took time off after his puja to tell Johnson T A his views on the elections,the emerging political scenario,the JDS,the Third Front and the country.

Excerpts:

What sense are you getting from the ground about the JDS prospects in these elections?

What I gather from my roadshows and travel around Karnataka is that there has been a good response everywhere. As things stand in the third phase where 11 constituencies go to polls,the situation in Mandya,Mysore,Chamarajnagar,Hassan and Haveri gives us hope. We have given two seats to the Communists in Mangalore and Udupi-Chikamagalur. In the second phase where 17 constituencies polled on April 23,we did very well in Chitradurga,Bangalore Rural,Tumkur,Koppal,Bangalore Central and Kolar.

The JDS did well in the Assembly bypolls this year. Why has it not contested all the constituencies? There seems to be a tacit understanding between the Congress and JDS.

It is a question of resources. We are unable to raise resources. If you go around Hassan,do you get the impression that the Congress and JDS are co-operating? This impression will gather ground in the seats where we have not put up candidates. We fielded a candidate in Bagalkot,he is a Panchamshali Lingayat a sub-sect of the Lingayat community. A religious leader from a Mutt called him and asked him to withdraw. These are some of the issues,what can I do? In Davangere,I had to suspend the district unit itself. The media tries to draw its own inferences,what can I do?

Are you going into these elections as the Third Fronts consensus candidate for the PMs post?

Whether I am a consensus person or not is not the issue. The mandate of people is the basic issue. This needs to be watched. My concern is to wipe out the tears of the people,and I want all the programmes in my manifesto to be implemented. Contesting elections is different and becoming the PM is different8230; There are many contenders in the Third Front. Is Jayalalithaa not a candidate for PM? Is Mayawati not a candidate? Is Sharad Pawar not a candidate? Is Lalu not a candidate? Is Karat not a candidate? Why should I involve myself in this?