ASSEMBLY POLL '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS '98
ARCHIVES

Lok Shakti will ride Hegde's image in assembly poll

The Lok Shakti in Karnataka Wednesday announced that Union Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde would be its chief ministerial candidate in the coming assembly election, "irrespective" of any alliance.

Party spokesman Srikantamurthy said in Bangalore that Hegde would lead the election campaign. The decision had received overwhelming response at the party meeting last month, he said.

Asked whether the Lok Shakti, a partner in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee coalition government at the Centre, would ally with the Bharatiya Janata Party in the poll, he said Hegde would hold talks with BJP president Kushabhau Thakre on the issue next month.

"We have an open mind on the issue," he added.

To another question, he said party workers were in favour of fighting the election alone. However, the party wasn't averse to going in for an alliance to keep the Janata Dal, which had failed to provide good governance, and the Congress away from power.

Srikantamurthy alleged that the "ulterior and sadistic" motives of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, which caused instability in the ruling Janata Dal, would lead to an early election.

He said the reconstituted office-bearers meeting held on March 7, 1998, under the chairmanship of party state president Jeevaraj Alva, had decided that the office-bearers should tour the state from March 15 to identify candidates for "all the 224" constituencies.

The meeting also condemned the Congress stand on the Bihar issue.

He said the party would serve notices to two or three members for indulging in anti-party activities.

Stating that the governor's address to the joint session of the legislature was devoid of vision, Lok Shakthi state general secretary B J Puttaswamy felt the governor could have deleted the reference to silk imports. The party was monitoring the silk prices and it had not crashed but was on the rise, he claimed.

Tell us what you think of this report