Regional parties will have to take Cong’s help to form govt after polls: Deve Gowda

Bengaluru: Regional parties alone cannot form the government on their own after the Lok Sabh polls and will have to take the help of the Congress, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda asserted here on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters in Tumakuru, from where he is contesting the election, he said differences were there between many regional parties, but he believed they alone could not form the government without the help of the Congress, which is a national party.

He said regional parties should set aside their differences if they wished to end the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"All the regional parties should join the national party Congress if they want to see the end of Modis rule, who is out to destroy the political system in the country," the JD(S) supremo said.

In this context he cited the example of Karnataka, where his party JD(S) has forged an alliance with Congress to keep the BJP out of power.

To a question,Gowda said he was contesting the election, not with any political ambition, but to contribute to the nation "in this difficult situation."

"I am contesting the election not for any political ambition, but to contribute my bit to the nation in this difficult situation," he said.

The former prime minister offered regional parties his help to bring all of them together in order to forge a strong alliance.

Gowdas two grandsons Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Prajwal Revanna are also contesting the Lok Sabha election from Mandya and Hassan respectively.

While Nikhil is chief minister H D Kumaraswamys son, Prajwal is Karnataka PWD minister H D Revannas son.