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Bellary Janata Dal (S) chief, supporters quit party

By Our Staff Correspondent

BELLARY, MARCH 30. The Janata Dal (Secular) suffered a jolt here on Tuesday as B. Shivaram Reddy, former MLA and President of its district unit, announced his resignation from the party. He said a large number of his supporters also quit the party.

"Senior party leaders, including the former Prime Minister, H.D .Deve Gowda, Siddaramaiah and M.P. Prakash, are ignoring the party workers and favouring the rich. This forced him to take such an extreme step. Several party workers in the district, including the presidents of the taluk units, who are also frustrated with the behaviour of the senior leaders, have already quit and many more will follow suit,'' he told presspersons.

Mr. Reddy charged that none of the district-level leaders of the party were taken into confidence when candidates were selected for the elections. "What was more insulting was that senior party leaders, especially Mr. Deve Gowda, announcing that the ticket for the Lok Sabha and the Assembly elections will be issued to only those who had a minimum of Rs. 1 crore and Rs. 50 lakh, respectively,'' he said.

Mr. Reddy was an aspirant for the party ticket to contest from the Kurgodu Assembly Constituency. "Where should the party workers, who strived hard to build the party and stood firm with these leaders in times of crisis, go? Do they not have any value at all? The attitude of the leaders is very clear that party workers are needed to build the party and the ticket will be issued to the rich, which is frustrating,'' he said.

He criticised Mr. Deve Gowda for what the termed his preference to field the wealthy, including mine owners, in the elections. This indicated that he had the least concern for farmers.

To a question, Mr. Reddy said he had not yet decided on which party to join. He would discuss it with the leaders of political parties. .

Meanwhile, Y. Nettakallappa, senior Vice-President of Janata Dal (S) State unit, left the party along with his supporters. He alleged that senior party leaders had ignored the party workers.

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