Dimapur, May 02: Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) national president, HD Deve Gowda, has pledged that his party would work towards integrating all the Naga inhabited areas as desired by the Naga people.

Addressing a meeting at an election rally at Town Hall, here on Sunday, Gowda said the JD (S) would stand by its commitment towards finding a lasting solution to the decades-old Naga political problem.

"We are sincere and we will work sincerely towards finding an honourable and acceptable solution to the problem", Gowda said while also assuring to take up the Naga issue on the floor of Parliament.

"I will take up the demand of the Nagas in the Parliament so that their dreams can be achieved", he asserted.

Taking a dig at the Congress and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre for their failure to find a solution to the issue, Gowda said it was he who first initiated the efforts to hold talks between the NSCN (IM) and Government of India during his Prime Ministership in 1996."I took up the issue with all seriousness that culminated in the signing of the ceasefire agreement between NSCN (IM) and Government of India in 1997", he said.

Gowda also made a scathing attack on the Sangh Parivar for fanning communal passion and perpetrating atrocities on minorities and said that although BJP claimed to be the champions of the Naga cause, it was hand in gloves with the communal forces.

The former Prime Minister claimed he was the only Prime Minister of the country to have travelled the North-Eastern region extensively for seven days to interact with the people and political parties in order to learn the problems of the people of the region.