Hassan: Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda hit back at Hassan district in-charge minister KM Shivalingegowda over his remarks on the NICE project, challenging him to disclose what information he presented to the House Committee that examined the project.“Everyone knows who made money from the NICE project. Those who claimed to know everything about the issue and appeared before the House Committee should disclose what they told the committee,” Gowda told reporters in Hassan.Gowda said the project had its roots in the economic and industrial policies of the 1990s and that an agreement had been signed involving American companies and an Indian company. He said Karnataka high court’s judgments on the matter were already before the public.“Neither my son (Union minister) Kumaraswamy nor I are important here. The judgments of the high court and the single bench are available before the people. Truth cannot be hidden,” he said.Referring to his health, Gowda said he was undergoing dialysis but was strong enough to take up people’s fight.On the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Gowda said the Supreme Court was hearing the issue and everyone should wait for its final verdict instead of making statements in haste. He described the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, as a young leader and said younger politicians tended to move faster.On the BJP-JDS alliance, Gowda said the two parties would continue to work together and fight the Congress in the coming elections.He reiterated that his political life had largely been dedicated to the interests of farmers. He said two books compiling his parliamentary speeches and interventions on farmers’ issues from 1991 to 2025 were being prepared under the title Negila Geragalu.
