Bihar MPs pulled me down from PM’s post - Gowda

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s claim that he got a Prime Minister elected from Karnataka has not gone down well with former Prime Minister and JD (S) supremo H D Deve Gowda.

Speaking to reporters in Bangalore, Gowda accused the MPs from Bihar for pulling him down from the Prime Minister’s post.

When his attention was drawn to the Railway Minister’s claim that he was responsible for a Kannadiga to occupy the Prime Minister’s post, a visibly irritated Gowda said “I know very well who made me the Prime Minister. It was, in fact, MPs from Bihar, who pulled me down from the post”.

“I got a Prime Minister elected from Karnataka”, Lalu Prasad Yadav had told the BJP MPs from Karnataka, who accused him of insulting Kannadigas by describing them as “dirty people” during his recent visit to Karnataka.

Gowda accused the Railway Minister of meting out injustice to Karnataka in the Railway Budget 2008-09. “Let alone sanctioning new projects, no funds have been earmarked to any of the on-going projects”, Gowda fumed.

The former Prime Minister said he would soon hold talks in the regard with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Gowda warned that his party would take up in its election campaign the issue Railway Minister’s alleged negligence of Karnataka in the Railway Budget.