Hegde declines PM’s offer to return to JD

Gujral stayed here overnight on his way to Puttaparthi to inaugurate a cricket stadium.

Hegde said Gujral told him that he was unhappy over his (Hegde) expulsion and many senior Janata Dal leaders also felt so. “When he invited me to join Janata Dal I told him it is not possible,” he added.

He refused to give further details of his talks with Gujral. The prime minister was not a kind of person who would take revenge on his rivals or blame anyone. Gujral was concerned over the present state of affairs in the Janata Dal, he said.

Asked about Union Minister R L Jalappa’s remarks against former prime minister H D Devegowda, Hegde said anyone who had toiled for the party and had been loyal would naturally get hurt if he was asked to quit the party and that was what Jalappa had done. “Very few people can have the capacity to tolerate such pains that I had undergone,” he added.

On Sonia’s decision to campaign for the Congress, Hegde said she, being a citizen of India, was free to do so and even contest in the elections .Replying to another question, he said the proposed talks with Kesri, to be held today, could not come through due to their preoccupations.