Pointing out that he may not contest the LokSabha Elections of 2019, former PM HD Deve Gowda said on Friday that he expects to be given a sufficient time to deliver presumably his last speech in parliament next week when the House will take up a conference on the interim budget.
The 85-year-old JD(S) chief expressed his annoyance that he wasn’t given enough time to speak in Lok Sabha during the debate on the motion of thanks to the President's He added that he would even request Congress to give some of its scheduled time in the LokSabha to him to complete his last speech.
"I am disappointed. I am not satisfied (with my speech on the President's address). Barely had I spoken for six minutes, the Speaker cautioned me to finish my speech. Still, I spoke for some more time but I was not satisfied," Mr Gowda told reporters.
He said that he had never criticized anyone personally and that he sought time to speak not to criticize anyone. “I have governed the country for 320 days and people of this country do not know what I did. The sole intention was to share what I did when I was Prime Minister because I have May not come to Parliament again," he added.
Mr Gowda led a coalition government for 10 months between 1996-97. He hoped to get sufficient time on Monday to speak during the debate on the interim budget.
The former prime minister's grandsons are competing for party ticket to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Hassan, currently represented by him.