The Hindu : AIJD leaders cool to Mallya's 'exit'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 12, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

AIJD leaders cool to Mallya's 'exit'

By S.Rajendran

Bangalore April 11. The decision of the Rajya Sabha member and Senior Vice-President of the All India Janata Dal (AIJD), Vijay Mallya, to join the Janata Party has been regarded by top leaders of the AIJD as a matter of little consequence.

Many AIJD leaders were opposed to Mr. Mallya's role in the party since they perceived him as a threat.

That Mr. Mallya had plumped for the Janata Party was known over a fortnight ago.

He had prompted the Janata Party President, Subramanian Swamy, to hold the Executive Committee meeting of the party in Bangalore and reportedly even played host. It is said that he attended the meeting and was present at the Press briefing by Dr. Swamy in which the latter announced that Mr. Mallya would be the Working President of a united Janata Party. Mr. Mallya's calculations on the merger of the AIJD with the Janata Party went awry following the reported reservations expressed by the former chief minister, Ramakrishna Hegde.

The AIJD was willing to take over the symbol and name of the Janata Party since the Election Commission was yet to register the party.

However, the AIJD was opposed to having anything to do with Dr. Swamy, let alone making him the chairman of the political affairs committee of the party.

Sources in the AIJD told The Hindu that efforts would be made to get in touch with Mr. Mallya and sort out his grievances.

There were many leaders in the AIJD, who were inimical to Mr. Mallya's entry into the party. Mr. Mallya timed it well to announce his decision at this juncture since the former prime minister, H.D.Deve Gowda, and the AIJD President, S.R.Bommai, had commenced the merger discussions and his role was been relegated to the background.

One factor that the AIJD will miss is Mr. Mallya's ability to quickly resolve tricky issues.

His actions are regarded as superficial and not marked by "deep political thought".

Had there been a proper disciplinary action committee in the AIJD, Mr. Mallya's moves and that of many others in the AIJD would have attracted action.

While it was widely believed that Mr. Mallya would be successful in getting the Janata Parivar united, it turned out that Mr. Mallya was specifically chosen by Mr. Hegde to counter the JD(S) attempt to wean away the legislators of the Janata Dal (United).

The Secretary-General of the Janata Dal (United), B.Shreepathy Rao, hit out against the MP for his decision to join the Janata Party. He said: "If Mr. Mallya is disillusioned with the developments in the AIJD, it is largely due to his own making.

A political party cannot function like a private company and what has apparently upset Mr. Mallya is that he could not convert the AIJD into UBJD."

He said it was thanks to the support extended by Ramakrishna Hegde that Mr. Mallya was elected to the Rajya Sabha.

Rather than function as a part of a political party, Mr. Mallya chose to function independently, resulting in his isolation by the others.

Mr. Rao said it was imperative for Mr. Mallya to work for the unity of the Janata Parivar.

Otherwise, his actions, which would result in a split in the Opposition votes, would show him to be "an agent of the Congress party".

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