Ex-PM Gowda sure of alternative to Congress, BJP

Former prime minister and Janata Dal-Secular president H.D. Deve Gowda said Wednesday the Left parties and the Telugu Desam Party were in touch with him on formation of a front as an alternative to the Congress and the BJP.

"An alternative front will emerge. I am sure of it," Gowda told reporters here.

The JD-S leader said neither a Congress-led alliance nor a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led group would come to power in New Delhi after the Lok Sahba elections.

"An alternative front, call it by whatever name, will take shape and form the government," Gowda asserted.

He refuted reports in a section of the media in Bangalore that he and former BJP leader and president of the Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) B.S. Yeddyurappa had talks on possible merger of the two parties or understanding to fight the Lok Sabha elections.

Gowda noted that Yeddyurappa was now hinting that he might go back to the BJP.

The JD-S had won only three of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka in the 2009 elections. It had seat adjustment with the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) which have little presence in the state now.

The BJP, which was in power in the state then, had won 19 and the Congress six.

Now the Congress has returned to power in the state, defeating the BJP in the May 5 assembly poll, and has begun identifying candidates for the Lok Sabha election as it wants to win more than 20 seats this time.