The Hindu

Mangalore, May 2: Coalition government, especially when formed by parties following diverse ideologies, should stick to the spirit of mutual co-operation in every sphere of administration and work together to reach relief to the people in a systematic manner, said the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda.

Gowda told presspersons here on Tuesday that in the case of Karnataka Government that was not happening and he would urge Chief Minister H.D. Kumarswamy and Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to review the performance of each Minister and each department.

Gowda while appreciating the "Janata Darshan" programme of Mr. Kumaraswamy, said the Chief Minister spent about seven hours in these programmes and met 2,000 to 3,000 people in each of such programmes. He directed officials and Ministers to take action on representations received. But there appeared to be minimum or no effort from the BJP ministers to honour the commitments given by the Chief Minister to the people in such programmes. This issue had to be addressed by Kumaraswamy and Yediyurappa.

He said the Deputy Chief Minister, who would be the next Chief Minister, should understand the importance of meeting the Government's commitments towards the people and if he was aspiring to become a successful Chief Minister in his tenure, he should tune up the BJP ministers to deliver the Government's programmes to the people.

Gowda said it was not his wish to cause uncertainty but things were not going in accordance with his party's manifesto.

Referring to Yediyurappa's financial contributions to the various religious institutions, Gowda said the Government money belonged to tax payers and it should be used for the welfare of the people and could not be used for charity to religious institutions.

He referred to the "objections" made by BJP MP Jashwanth Singh on the floor of Parliament in 1991 when the then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh had given Rs. 100 crore for the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.

Gowda said the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation had a distinct range of activities and Mr. Jashwanth Singh had his reasons to oppose the move by Manmohan Singh. But in the case of Mr. Yediyurappa, the contributions to religious institutions did not evoke even a whimper of protest from the BJP MPs of the State, he added.

Gowda said when there was a coalition government in the State, how could the BJP organise a "Vikas Yatra". The BJP leaders such as H.N. Ananth Kumar and D.V. Sadananda Gowda forgot that the JD(S) was a partner in the coalition. He said he was hurt by the way the BJP was trying to sideline the JD(S) in the State.

He said there was time till October and BJP leadership in the State should make way for "smooth transfer of power", Gowda added.