GULBARGA: The All-India Progressive Janata Dal (AIPJD) on Sunday threatened to abstain from voting in the Assembly to decide the fate of the coalition Government headed by N. Dharam Singh, and said that unless former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and two others who were dropped from the Ministry were taken back into it, the party would not support the motion of the Government.

Gowda's role

AIPJD MLA B.R. Patil, a confidant of Mr. Siddaramaiah, told presspersons here that the AIPJD had no alternative but to abstain from voting as the Congress was still hobnobbing with Janata Dal (S) president H.D. Deve Gowda, fully knowing about his role in the rebellion of his son H.D. Kumaraswamy, working president of the State unit of the Janata Dal (S). Mr. Patil said that although Mr. Siddaramaiah indicated that the AIPJD would support Mr. Singh in the confidence vote, the party leaders were of the view that the support could not be taken for granted by the Congress, particularly in view of its leaders' repeated attempts to win back the support of Janata Dal (S).

"Today, Ms. Margaret Alva met Mr. Deve Gowda, knowing well that the latter was responsible for the crisis." The Congress leadership had not seen through the "dubious drama" being enacted by Mr. Deve Gowda making it easy for the BJP to reach the threshold of power.

`Unfortunate'

He said it was "unfortunate" that the Congress, which was "wedded to secular politics," was trying to persuade Mr. Deve Gowda, whose son had hijacked party MLAs to support the communal forces. The Congress should sever its relations with the Janata Dal (S) and sit in the opposition or face fresh election instead of continuing to persuade Mr. Deve Gowda to bring round Mr. Kumaraswamy.

Mr. Patil said Mr. Deve Gowda, who had expelled Mr. Siddaramaiah and others from the party for the simple reason that they participated in the AHINDA conventions, was now a silent witness to the rebellion by his son and State party president N. Thippanna, which had brought the Government to the brink of collapse.

"So far, Mr. Deve Gowda, who is the president of the party, had not even served a show-cause notice to Mr. Kumaraswamy and Mr. Thippanna," he said.

To a question, Mr. Patil said the results of the zilla and taluk panchayat elections had revealed the strength of the AIPJD and pointed out that Congress leaders should know that without the support of Mr. Siddaramaiah, the secular forces could not be strengthened in the State.

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