The Hindu : Kerala News : Surendra Mohan to head JD(S)

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Surendra Mohan to head JD(S)

Special Correspondent

Anti-Gowda faction to stake claim to name, flag and symbol

AT THE HELM: Surendra Mohan being garlanded by M.P. Veerandrakumar after he was elected president of the Janata Dal (Secular), in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday. Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The anti-Gowda faction of the Janata Dal (Secular) on Saturday elected veteran socialist leader Surendra Mohan as its president in place of former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda.

The party also decided to stake claim to the party name, flag and election symbol.

The JD(S) national council, convened by the anti-Gowda faction, also elected the former Karnataka Minister P.G.R. Scindia, the party's secretary general and named senior Karnataka JD(S) leader Ekanthaiah the president of the party unit in the State. The national executive of the party has been reconstituted and Mr. Surendra Mohan has been authorised to appoint new office-bearers in consultation with other leaders.

The former Union Minister of State for Finance M.P. Veerendrakumar would continue to be the JD(S) Parliamentary Party leader.

`Rally secular forces'

Mr. Surendra Mohan, Mr. Scindia and Mr. Veerendrakumar told a news conference here on the conclusion of the national council meeting here on Saturday that the immediate task before the party was to rally the secular and democratic forces in the country and to work for the unity of the Janata Parivar, which is currently split into various political groups and camps. The party would also strive to rally all like-minded individuals and forces to fight the economic policies of the UPA Government and ensure protection of the rights of minorities, Dalits and women, they said.

Replying to a question, they said the fact that theirs was the real Janata Dal (Secular) would become clear once the national executive convened by Mr. Gowda was held next month.

"We are the Janata Dal (Secular) and not Deve Gowda," Mr. Veerendrakumar had told the national council meeting earlier in the day.

He told reporters later that the political resolution adopted by the national council meeting was a reiteration of the position taken by him and other party leaders when opposing Mr. Gowda's decision to hobnob with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and that the economic resolution placed emphasis on the need to resist corporatisation of the Indian economy in the name of globalisation.

Asked what stand the party would take on the Singur issue, Mr. Surendra Mohan said the party was firmly opposed to appropriation of cultivable farmlands for industrial purposes.

Mr. Veeredrakumar pointed out that Mr. Surendra Mohan had accompanied former Prime Minister V. P. Singh to West Bengal to mediate between Trinamool Congress leader Mamta Banerjee and the West Bengal Government.

Karnataka Janata Dal(S) leader K. Nanaiah was also present at the news conference.

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