Karnataka - Bangalore

Stay united, Janata Dal (S) tells its members

Bangalore: The Janata Dal (Secular) leadership on Tuesday gave a call to party members, particularly the newly elected legislators, to stay united.

A high-level meeting of the party was held here in the aftermath of the legislative Assembly elections to take stock of the political developments. The Janata Dal (Secular) has won 28 of the 224 seats in the legislative Assembly, way behind the expectations of the party leadership, and several of its important leaders, including State unit president Merajuddin Patel, working president C. Narayanaswamy, Speaker of the Assembly Krishna, party spokesman Y.S.V. Datta and the former Minister Iqbal Ansari, lost the elections.

The meeting was attended by the former Prime Minister and national president of the Janata Dal (Secular) H.D. Deve Gowda, the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and all the newly elected legislators, barring Srinivas, elected from the Gubbi constituency, who sought permission to keep away owing to an emergency. Several of the new legislators spoke on the occasion.

Addressing the meeting, Mr. Gowda told the legislators that the Janata Dal (Secular) had to remain united in the light of the attempts by some rival parties to woo them. He made it clear that the party was not keen on working out an adjustment with other parties but would work as a constructive Opposition in the Assembly. “We have accepted the people’s verdict and will sit in the opposition. Please extend your solidarity with the party leadership,” he told the legislators.

Briefing presspersons after the marathon meeting, party spokesman Datta said: “We are deeply anguished over the irresponsible way in which the Congress has conducted itself in the elections and this has triggered the Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory. Contrary to the accusations being made against the Janata Dal (Secular), it is out party which has checked the advance of BJP in the old Mysore area and in some of the constituencies in Uttara Kannada.”

He said the Congress was “totally insensitive” to the cause of secular parties. The Congress was now working at decimating a regional party like the Janata Dal (Secular) by attempting to split the party. All these had helped the BJP to not merely come to power in Karnataka, but also consolidate its position, he said.

Mr. Datta said it was not just Karnataka but the BJP now had a stronghold in the south and the party could spread its “tentacles” in the entire south India. “We have bounced back with 28 seats in the elections which is not at all bad considering the traumatic times the party has undergone in the recent past,” he said

Mr. Datta said the party leadership had decided that the legislators would sit in the Opposition and work as a responsible and constructive Opposition. Mr. Datta said the election had been contested on certain personal and unethical issues. The Congress had created its own bogey of “stability” while the BJP had played the caste card extensively and used its “money bags” to bulldoze smaller regional parties. As a result, the Congress and BJP legislative groups belonged to the rich and influential people and there was no chance for the parties based on the true values of politics like the Janata Dal (S), he added.

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