HUBLI: The All-India Progressive Janata Dal (AIPJD) will merge with the Congress on September 3 in Bangalore with all its leaders joining it except C.M. Ibrahim, the former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said.

Addressing presspersons here on Sunday, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that since Mr. Ibrahim would be busy with the Bukhari convention he would not be participating in the September 3 rally. However, Mr. Ibrahim would join the Congress later. It is said that several Congressmen are opposing the entry of Mr. Ibrahim into the party.

To a question, the former Deputy Chief Minister said his joining the Congress was to fight the "communal" BJP.

Lambasting the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, the Deputy Chief Minister alleged that the sole intention of the Janata Dal (S) joining hands with the BJP was to make H.D. Kumaraswamy Chief Minister.

He said that there was actually no government in the State. "Those who had joined hands just for the sake of power are soon going to sever their ties soon," he predicted.

To a question if anybody from the JD (S) would join the Congress, Mr. Siddaramaiah said he was in touch with some MLAs who were unhappy with the recent developments in the JD (S).

Mr. Siddaramaiah asked Primary and Secondary Education Minister Basavaraj Horatti to quit the Government, instead of allowing the Chief Minister's elder brother H.D. Revanna to exercise his power. Mr. Horatti has been elected to the Legislative Council for the fifth time in a row.

If he had some pride left in him, he should come out the Government, Mr. Siddaramaiah said.

Mr. Siddaramaiah said Mr. Deve Gowda committed a blunder by blessing the Janata Dal (S) alliance with the BJP.

Speaking at the joint convention of members of the Hubli-Dharwad Mahanagar Zilla Congress Committee and the AIPJD here, Mr. Siddaramaiah targeted the former Prime Minister throughout his speech.

Mr. Deve Gowda endorsed the alliance with the BJP only to make his son the Chief Minister, and by doing so had thrown to the wind the principles of social justice and secularism that his party (JD-S) had been following all these years. Explaining why he chose to join the Congress and what made him come out of the Janata Dal (S), Mr. Siddaramaiah recalled his suspension from that party with which he was associated for a long time. His suspension and also those of the MLAs who were with him and the support of Mr. Deve Gowda to the alliance with the BJP made him to quit the JD (S) and join the Congress, he explained.

Hitting out at Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and the BJP for associating themselves with the JD (S), Mr. Siddaramaiah alleged that through G. Janardhan Reddy, the BJP was trying to destroy the JD (S).

Mr. Siddaramaiah termed Mr. Kumaraswamy the first Chief Minister of the State to face bribery charges soon after assuming power. He urged the Chief Minister to agree to a CBI probe into the charges made against him.

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