Unclear of impact Rahul creating on people's mind: Deve Gowda

Janata Dal-S supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was raising people's issues but it is still not clear how much impact it was creating on the minds of the people.

Bengaluru:Janata Dal-S supremo and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda on Sunday said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was raising people's issues but it is still not clear how much impact it was creating on the minds of the people. Addressing a press conference here, he said: "I do not want to talk lightly about (Rahul) Gandhi or anyone. He is still a young leader and is fighting for people's causes but still has a long way to go."

Noting that Gandhi took out a bicycle rally to drive home the point of rising fuel prices, he said that it was still not very clear how people in the country viewed his efforts.

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Deve Gowda also said that the opposition parties across the country are reduced to state level entities and even talk of their regrouping to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi is still in a very nascent stage. "In politics, no one can confine anyone... it is not possible for Modi to confine the opposition neither the opposition can do it to him. What best we can do is to reach out, convey our views to people effectively," he said.

On the logjam in Parliament in the Monsoon session, the former Prime Minister said he was not allowed to speak due to the ruckus by members of both ruling and opposition parties which resulted in near washout of the session.

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"I have not seen anything like this in my 30 years as a parliamentarian. I am sickened with the behaviour of both ruling as well as the members of the opposition as some members even danced on the table in the well of the house. In my 30 years as a parliamentarian, I was never witness to such unruly behaviour," he said.

He added that such behaviour was not good for society because it "showed the degeneration of democratic values" and "was an insult to the great people who fought for the freedom of the country".

IANS