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JD(S) divergence grows

Special Correspondent

National executive ratifies support to LDF in Kerala

— Photo: PTI/ Atul Yadav

Janata Dal (Secular) Karnataka unit chief H.D. Kumaraswamy (left) greets leaders during the party’s national executive meet in New Delhi on Saturday. JD(S) president H.D. Deve Gowda is at the right.

NEW DELHI: The war in the Janata Dal (Secular), headed by the former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, over extending support to the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala took a new twist on Saturday.

A party spokesperson announced late in the evening that an emergency meeting of the Political Affairs Committee of the party on Sunday would discuss the issue. Hours earlier, the party’s national executive had ratified the decision of the national leadership to support the LDF government.

Soon after the national executive meeting, M.P. Veerendra Kumar, the Kerala unit president, who is staunchly opposed to supporting the LDF, had rejected the decision and announced that the State Council would meet in Kozhikode on July 12 to firm up the “next course of action.”

Alleging that the national executive’s decision was “stage managed,” Mr. Veerendra Kumar said party leaders and workers in Kerala could not support the LDF government after the way the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the leader of the Front, treated the party during the recent Parliament election. “We were humiliated and even kicked out of the left front by CPI(M). How can we continue to support it?”

Referring to Mr. Gowda’s stand that the JD(S) must support the LDF in keeping with its principle of maintaining equidistance from the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, Mr. Kumar said Mr. Gowda himself had approved the formation of coalition governments with both the parties in Karnataka, first with the Congress on the plea that it was necessary to save the State from a re-election, and then with the BJP arguing that it was needed to save the State party from disintegrating.

“One can’t have different norms for different States. The JD(S) should function as a federal party. Every State unit should be given the freedom to access the ground situation in their respective State and take steps appropriate to the local conditions.”

He said that it was “incongruous” for the JD(S) to be aligning with the LDF in Kerala, while extending support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre.

He alleged that the decision of the national executive to ratify the directives of Mr. Gowda was taken without proper discussion. “There were a lot of dissenting views, but the leadership did not take them into account. Many representatives from Kerala were not allowed to speak beyond a few minutes. There was absolutely no discussion.”

At a press conference earlier, Mr. Gowda, however, said the executive ratified the decision to support the LDF after a three-hour discussion. He emphasised that all were given an adequate opportunity to air their views.

Party general secretary Kunwar Danish Ali warned that if any individual or party unit violated the executive’s decision, disciplinary action would be initiated. Under the party constitution, the president had the power to take disciplinary action. The executive meeting reiterated this position, he said.

The national executive, among other things, decided to complete the membership drive before September 30 and then hold elections to party positions at all levels. It appointed party leader M.Y. Siddiqui the national returning officer for the elections.

The meeting adopted a resolution urging the Centre to come out with a “white paper” on agriculture and said there was a need for measures such as the creation of a national agriculture price stabilisation fund, provision of top priority for the completion of ongoing irrigation projects, the expansion of an institutional credit mechanism to farmers and a pension scheme for agricultural labourers and marginal and small farmers and cultivators of plantation crops.

The national executive ratified the decision to suspend Kerala State secretary Krishnan Kutty and decided to strip national general secretary Verghese George of his post. George represents Kerala.

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