Hassan: Expressing disappointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s lack of response to the scores of letters he had written addressing him, former PM and JD(S) president HD Deve Gowda on Saturday said, “In the past four-and-a-half years, I have written tens of letters to Modi, but he has not responded. He has remained silent on many developments in the state, and has not taken any action in response to my letters.”On the question of Modi contesting the Lok Sabha election from a constituency in the state, Gowda challenged the former to field himself from any of the 28 segments in Karnataka in the next year’s polls.“If Modi wants to contest the next Lok Sabha elections from Karnataka, let him do so. Let us then see how the state develops,” the former PM said.Brushing aside reports of confusion surrounding finalisation of his party’s candidates for the upcoming bypolls, Gowda said, “The Ramanagara JD(S) candidate has been announced. In Mandya, CM HD Kumaraswamy has discussed the issue with the local leaders, and the candidate for the Lok Sabha seat will be announced in three days.” On AICC president Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Karnataka, Gowda said that it was to attend a private ceremony, and made it clear that there were no political reasons behind his visit.The former PM said that the ‘Mahaghatbandhan’ or the grand alliance at the national level to combat the BJP would have no bearing on state politics.Gowda said that Bahujan Samaj Party leader N Mahesh’s resignation from the state cabinet had not led to differences emerging in the coalition government. “Mahesh resigned in accordance with the decisions of his party’s high command,” said Gowda, adding that equations with the BSP leader remained healthy and that Mahesh would work with the JD(S) in the upcoming bypolls.

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