BENGALURU, 9 MARCH

JD(S) supremo and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda said on Saturday that the INDIA bloc is a bundle of groups who have made secularism a joke.

In a veiled attack on the INDIA bloc, he reminded them that TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was a Railway Minister during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government.

Similarly, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin's father and former CM M Karunanidhi was with BJP for six years. His son-in-law was a minister in the Union government. TMC and DMK are part of the INDIA bloc.

"We can quote several instances. The so-called secularism in this country, if anybody speaks (about it), people say it's a joke. NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar has joined hands with former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. A Congress member was a Speaker (in Maharashtra). I can quote several cases and these developments don't suit the real meaning of secularism," Gowda told PTI in an exclusive interview.

On Congress' allegation that his Janata Dal (Secular) has joined hands with the communal BJP, the former prime minister sought to know how many states the grand old party is ruling. It is only in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana, he said.

The 90-year-old leader heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the latter is seeking a mandate for the third time. Modi is different from Vajpayee. BJP under Vajpayee's leadership was not able to cross more than 180 seats in Lok Sabha polls, while Modi got 282 seats (BJP alone) and with NDA partners, it was over 350 seats in his first term. Now he is aiming to cross 400 seats along with the alliance, Gowda said.

Gowda advised the Opposition parties to realise that Modi is the tallest leader today, which people should accept.

On Congress allegations that in the last 10 years, there is autocracy and certain "crony capitalists" have benefited and not the poor and deserving, the former prime minister wondered what strength Congress has today and how many seats they can expect. "They were unable to get the recognition (of Opposition party) in two terms in Parliament. No use of talking about the Congress party," he noted.

On the seat-sharing formula between BJP and JD(S) in Karnataka for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Gowda said his party has not set any conditions.