Deve Gowda keeps Congress waiting

JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda’s move to float the Third Front as an alternative to the Congress-led UPA and BJP-led NDA at  Tumkur on March 12, has forced Congress president Sonia Gandhi to rush two senior party leaders from Karnataka —CK Jaffer Sharief and Margaret Alva — to meet the former prime minister on Wednesday.

Sharief and Alva, both considered close to Gowda, went with a message from Sonia that the Congress is willing to have an understanding with the Janata Dal(S) against the BJP in the state in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

However, Gowda is understood to have told the Congress leaders that he will take a decision on the Congress offer only after the Tumkur convention.

He told them that he has already made all arrangements to float the Third Front and had joined hands with the Left parties and other regional parties like the Telugu Desam and AIADMK in this regard.

He said he will have to consult his allies before making any move and a final decision can be arrived at only after March 12, Dal sources here said.

The Congress has left the alliance issue to its local units.

Party general secretary Rahul Gandhi has already finalised an understanding with the Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra and soon, such a tie-up with the Samajwadi Party will also become a reality in Uttar Pradesh.