BANGALORE: Bharatiya Janata Party vice-president M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said bringing the Janata Dal (Secular) into the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold was presently not on his party's agenda.

Participating in a meet-the-press programme organised by the Press Club of Bangalore here, Mr. Naidu said the issue of BJP approaching any party, including the Janata Dal (Secular), on joining the NDA would crop up only before the next Lok Sabha elections, and subsequently at the time of forming the government.

The Janata Dal (Secular) has to first sort out its leadership dilemma at the national level and then take a stand on joining the NDA. "Presently, the BJP has an understanding only with the Karnataka unit of Janata Dal (Secular) and we want to continue it," he said.

Before the byelection to the Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had indicated that the possibility of the Janata Dal (Secular) joining the NDA in the future could not be ruled out.

Mr. Naidu said he was in favour of the BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular) jointly contesting the elections to the urban local bodies, although the State unit of the BJP would take a decision.

On the reported statement of Janata Dal (Secular) president H.D. Deve Gowda that the alliance with the BJP would continue only if it strictly adheres to the common minimum programme (CMP), Mr. Naidu said: "The Janata Dal (Secular) should also stick to the CMP. There is no question of the BJP diluting or deviating from its ideology. At the same time, we will not impose our ideology and policies on others."

Mr. Naidu said the State Government, particularly the Ministers from the BJP, were doing a good job.

Mr. Naidu said suspended BJP legislator G. Janardhan Reddy had damaged the image of the State Government by alleging that the Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues had taken bribe from the miners.

Being a legislator, Mr. Reddy should have placed all documents and evidence he had with him before the party instead of going to the media, he said. Mr. Reddy's image has also been dented as he has failed to prove the charges, he said.

On the observation that he had never spoken in favour of Karnataka and Kannada despite being elected to the Rajya Sabha from the State for a second term, Mr. Naidu said he had worked for the development of the State when the NDA Government was in office. "I ensured that leaders from Karnataka got the credit for their work. I was also the national president of BJP and I do not want to confine myself to any one State," he said.

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