Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda said that he will stand by Rahul Gandhi if the Congress president becomes the prime minister of India. His remarks came after his son and Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy said that there is a possibility that Deve Gowda might become the Prime Minister as a consensus candidate.

The Janata Dal (Secular) chief said, "I am not bothered about this. My concern is Modi will come to Parliament. I have got the guts and conviction to tell it to the face of the PM. I have the courage. If Rahul Gandhi becomes the Prime Minister, I will sit by his side. It is not necessary to become the Prime Minister."

Notably, three years ago the former PM had announced that he would not contest the Lok Sabha Elections. But now he is contesting the LS elections from Tumkur constituency in Karnataka against BJP's GS Basvaraj. Talking about his decision to contest the polls, Deve Gowda said, "There are circumstances now in which I have been forced to contest. There is nothing to hide. I do not have any ambition but I am not going to retire from active politics."