The Hindu : Front Page : `Legislature party leader status thrust on us'

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Wednesday, Mar 22, 2006

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Front Page

`Legislature party leader status thrust on us'

Special Correspondent

There is no party that can claim to be practising value-based politics: Prakash

M.P. Prakash

Bangalore: The new President of the State unit of the Janata Dal (Secular), M.P. Prakash, has said that the Janata Dal (S) has been compelled to accept the status of the legislature party leader accorded to Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy by Speaker Krishna.

He told presspersons here on Tuesday that there was no question of challenging the Speaker's ruling given the strength of the party in the Assembly and the support Mr. Kumaraswamy enjoys among the party legislators. In the present scenario, there is no political party that can claim to be practising value-based politics or for that matter being secular.

Mr. Prakash said it was apparently the prevailing political scenario in the State that had compelled Mr. Kumaraswamy to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The same was the case in 1983 when the leaders of then Janata Party had sought the support of the BJP which had 18 MLAs.

On whether the Janata Dal (S) had revoked the suspension of the Chief Minister and 39 MLAs, he said the party President H.D. Deve Gowda had suspended them and the party's national executive had ratified the decision.

The legislators concerned had been served with show case notices and they were yet to submit their explanation. On receipt of the explanation the matter would be placed before the party's disciplinary committee and it is for the committee to take further action.

Referring to the Rajya Sabha elections, Mr. Prakash favoured issuing a whip to the party MLAs. While former Minister M. Rajashekhar Murthy was its official candidate, the party had decided to transfer its surplus votes to industrialist Rajeev Chandrashekhar (independent), also supported by the alliance partner, BJP.

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