Forty-five members of the Janata Dal (Secular), led by senior party members, left for Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Sunday midnight. They include party leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, and B.Z. Zameer Ahmed and N. Cheluvaraya Swamy, MLAs.
The members would formulate a strategy for the future that could help steer the party, which faced a drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections, a party spokesperson said. Eight members have opted not to go to Colombo as the elections to the Legislative Council from the teachers and graduates constituencies are scheduled for Friday.
They include H.D. Revanna, Basavaraj Horatti, and Manjunath Gowda and Y.S.V. Datta, MLAs.
The trip to Colombo is being justified on the grounds that it is cheaper than going to New Delhi and will be a place where second line leaders will not disturb the members.
Last week, Mr. Kumaraswamy told presspersons that the trip to Sri Lanka was “party sponsored” and no individual had a role in sponsoring it.
