Date:02/02/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/02/02/stories/2006020214800400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Expel Deve Gowda, B.R. Patil tells JD(S) leadership

Special Correspondent

`This will help save the party from the clutches of the communal BJP'

Deve Gowda did not write to the Speaker against recognising the rebel group
Instead, he wrote to the Governor

No action has been taken against JD(S) State unit President Thippanna

BANGALORE: B.R. Patil, MLA and State unit Working President of the All India Progressive Janata Dal, on Wednesday appealed to members of the national executive of the Janata Dal (Secular) to expel former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda from the party for "supporting" an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Addressing presspersons here, Mr. Patil, who is a member of the national executive of the Janata Dal (S), alleged that Mr. Deve Gowda meticulously designed and executed a plan to achieve two goals — make his son H.D. Kumarawamy Chief Minister and cause the fall of the Congress-led government. He said that if Mr. Deve Gowda wanted to prevent the fall of the N. Dharam Singh Government, he should have written to Legislative Assembly Speaker Krishna requesting him not to recognise the group of rebel MLAs led by Mr. Kumaraswamy. Instead, he wrote to Governor T. N. Chaturvedi, he said.

In a letter to Janata Dal (S) Vice-President Bapu Kaladate, Mr. Patil said no action has been taken against party's State unit President N. Thippanna, who supported the group led by Mr. Kumaraswamy. This indicates Mr. Deve Gowda's role in the "conspiracy", he alleged.

Instead of taking action against Mr. Kumaraswamy and Mr. Thippanna, Mr. Deve Gowda announced his resignation from the post of party President to clear the way for dynastic succession, Mr. Patil alleged.

He urged Mr. Kaladate to take action at the national executive meeting of the party to expel Mr. Deve Gowda from the Janata Dal (S) to save the party from "the clutches of the communal BJP".

"It is evident even to the common man that the drama was scripted by Mr. Deve Gowda after a secret consultation with top leaders of the BJP, including former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, in New Delhi," he said.

The Janata Dal (S) leader endorsed his son's action as a strategy to maintain unity in the party. "The people of the State understand the hypocrisy and crocodile tears of Mr. Deve Gowda," Mr. Patil said.

The decision to withdraw support to the Congress-led government is a betrayal of the secular and democratic values, he said. By allowing the BJP to taste power for the first time in southern India, a platform has been created to incite communal feelings and hatred, he added.

Mr. Patil said the youth wing of the All India Progressive Janata Dal, Dalit and students' organisations will stage a demonstration in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the M.G. Road on Friday, opposing the alliance between the Janata Dal (S) and the BJP.