Playing on the fissures in the Janata Dal, the Congress yesterday attacked former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, saying he was constantly hobnobbing with the BJP.
The party spokesperson pointed out that Gowda had attacked the Congress at the Dals meeting on Sunday but not uttered a single word about the BJP.
The links between Gowda and the BJP were now getting more visible, said the spokesperson, adding that Gowda had praised the RSS cadre while addressing an RSS rally.
The Congress sought to train its guns at the Left in the same breath, saying the Left must now decide what they should do with Gowda, since the Left claimed to be a secular force.
The spokesperson said the Congress had no intention to destroy the Dal, as Gowda had alleged during his speech. We do not indulge in negative politics, he added.
When a reporter pointed out that Gowda, whom the Congress identified as pro-BJP, was the chairman of the United Front, the spokesperson said there was no question of reviewing the Congress support to the IK Gujral government.
The Congress seems intent on deepening the wedge between Gowda and his successor. The spokesperson insisted that we do not involve the prime minister in this. Congress President Sitaram Kesri has developed a warm rapport with Gujral.
The Congress spokesperson began his briefing yesterday by referring to the heckling of Gujral at the Dal meeting on Sunday. It was an internal party matter, he said, but the dignity of the prime minister must be maintained and preserved by all.
He did not refer to the constant pro-Sonia Gandhi slogans that interrupted PV Narasimha Raos presidential speech to the Talkatora AICC session in 1995, when Rao was the prime minister.
