Southern States - Karnataka   

Bommai under pressure to head merged JD

By S. Rajendran

Bangalore Nov. 14. The former Chief Minister and Union minister, S.R. Bommai, who agreed to don the role of a referee to bring about the merger of the two factions of the Janata Dal, is now reportedly under pressure from various quarters to take over as the president of the merged entity.

Sources in the two factions told The Hindu here today that Mr. Bommai, despite his poor health, was a more acceptable leader, particularly in view of the differences between the former Prime Minister and JD(S) leader, H.D. Deve Gowda, and the former Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo, Ramakrishna Hegde.

A section of the JD(U) leaders expressed a preference for Mr. Bommai over Mr. Deve Gowda or any other leader of the JD outfit hailing from northern Karnataka.

The second-line leaders of the JD(U) and the JD(S), particularly those from the Veerashaiva community, were reportedly in favour of Mr. Bommai whom they considered a "harmless leader who would not exhibit favouritism in managing the new party".

The Lingayat legislators of both the factions want someone from their community to lead the party, arguing that the need of the hour is to consolidate the Lingayat votes to enable the Janata Dal to gain an edge over the Congress in the next Assembly elections.

The leaders from the other communities have also started rallying around the Lingayats. This has become a cause for concern for the incumbent heads of the two factions.

In the view of the leaders of the two factions who have been campaigning for the merger, the division in the JD factions largely centres on having a Lingayat to head the outfit. The division is not on ideological grounds but centres around who would have the upper hand in appointing the new team of office bearers, particularly at the State level.

A large number of the leaders of both the factions, including those who have termed themselves neutral, assembled at the residence of Mr. Bommai here today.

Although there were no formal discussions on who should be the national president of the unified Janata Dal, the individual opinion of most of the leaders was that the merger was a must and it could be achieved only if the leadership was assumed by someone other than Mr. Gowda or Mr. Hegde.

The general view was that the new party should have a non-Veerashaiva as president at the State level if Mr. Bommai was made president at the national level.

Mr. Bommai said that the formula to bring about the merger of the two parties would be announced in the last week of the month.

After a round of discussions with the State JD(U) President, C. Byre Gowda, and the State JD(S) President, Siddaramaiah, Mr Bommai would meet Mr. Hegde on Friday.

He would then hold discussions with Mr. Deve Gowda in New Delhi before finalising the merger formula.

Among those who attended the meeting today were the Floor Leader of the JD(U) in the Legislative Assembly, P.G.R. Sindhia; the Floor leader in the Legislative Council, Basavaraj Horatti; the JD(U) leaders, M.P. Prakash, B.N. Bachche Gowda, B. Somashekar, Mahima Patel, Basavaraj Horatti, K.N. Nage Gowda, S.S. Patil, A.B. Patil, Hampana Gowda, K.B. Mallikarjun, and Shivananda Koujalgi; the JD(S) leaders, K.H. Srinivasa, C. Narayanaswamy, N.M. Nabi, A. Laxmisagar, Cheluvarayaswamy, and H.N. Nanje Gowda; and the JD (neutral) leaders, Ramesh Kumar, M.C. Nanaiah, K. Jayaprakash Hegde, and B.A. Mohideen.

The consensus at the meeting was that all the leaders would abide by the formula worked out by Mr. Bommai and the merger was a necessity in the present political scenario.

It was also stated that the unified Janata Dal would stay clear of the Congress and the BJP.

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