The Hindu : Kerala News : JD(S) chief condemns rebels' move

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Friday, Jan 20, 2006

Kerala

Kerala

JD(S) chief condemns rebels' move

Staff Reporter

He does not think that Gowda had any role in the developments

THRISSUR: Janata Dal (Secular) Parliamentary Party leader and Kerala unit president M.P. Veerendrakumar has condemned the decision of a rebel faction led by H.D. Kumaraswamy to form a Ministry in Karnataka with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Talking to presspersons here on Thursday, Mr. Veerendrakumar said the party would not approve of any understanding with the BJP or any other communal forces under any circumstances. ``Ours is a party which had to pay a heavy price for strictly adhering to anti-communalist and pro-social justice positions. The V.P. Singh Ministry [then at the Centre] would not have collapsed if we had compromised with the BJP. At one point of time, even our president Sharad Yadav defected to the communalist camp. Similarly, a faction led by Naveen Patnaik left the party to enter into a tie-up with the BJP in Orissa. The one-time firebrand socialist George Fernandes is with the BJP-led NDA [National Democratic Alliance].

``The Janata Dal (S) will remain a party adhered to the principles of secularism and social justice, no matter how big a faction deserts us. Though we may have suffered setbacks organisationally, the issues of social justice and secularism we have raised have become the concern of almost all parties,'' he said. Replying to questions, Mr. Veerendrakumar said he did not think that party president H.D. Deve Gowda had any role in the developments. ``Mr. Gowda has rebutted the claims of the rebel faction. He has written to the Governor that only the Legislature Party leader is authorised to communicate any decision on political alliances of the party. Had he been with the rebels, how could he write such a letter?'' Asked whether the recent meeting between Mr. Gowda and the BJP leader A.B. Vajpayee was a prelude to the latest developments, Mr. Veerendrakumar said: ``There is nothing wrong in Mr. Gowda meeting Mr. Vajpayee. I also meet Mr. Vajpayee quite often. These are personal meetings. Political alliances are not discussed there.''

He said his party's Central leadership would decide on what action should be taken against the MLAs who had defected from the party. The JD(S) leader said his party had strong reservations about Left Democratic Front-ruled municipal corporations taking conditional loans from institutions such as the Asian Development Bank. He, however, refused to clarify his party's position on the proposed tie-up between the LDF and the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran).

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