Janata Dal (Secular) national president H.D. Deve Gowda on Sunday announced that Janata Dal(S) State president H.D. Kumaraswamy’s offer to quit his party post had been accepted.
On Mr. Kumaraswamy’s other offer to quit the post of Leader of the Opposition in Legislative Assembly, Mr. Deve Gowda said that a meeting of the party legislators (40) and MLCs would be convened on Wednesday where a decision would be taken.
“We will also decide who should be the State unit president at the meeting. The party believes in the one-man one-post principle,” he added.
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Stating that he would not be deterred by the outcome of the byelections, he said that he would tour the State to strengthen the party.
‘Wrong decisions’
Meanwhile, the party’s second-rung leadership blamed the wrong decisions by the top leaders during the run-up to the Lok Sabha byelections for the loss. .
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The byelections were seen as a matter of prestige for the Congress and the Opposition parties as the two constituencies lie in the Vokkaliga heartland.
The second-rung leadership attributed the drubbing to the differences between the party national and State unit presidents and the tie-up with the BJP, which, they said, had been struck for short-term gains. The defeat, particularly in Mandya, was a result of the campaign by party workers on issues of parentage of the victorious Congress candidate Ramya, the leaders said.
They pointed out that though Mr. Kumaraswamy was against fielding his wife Anita Kumaraswamy in Bangalore Rural, his father had insisted that the party nominate her as the candidate.
Congress strategy
A senior leader told The Hindu on the condition of anonymity that Congress Chief Minister Siddaramaiah employed strategies that he learnt from Mr. Deve Gowda during his stay in the Janata Parivar.
“Mr. Siddaramaiah learnt much during the byelections to the Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency in 2006, when he quit the Janata Dal(S) and joined the Congress,” he added.
“Mr. Siddaramaiah’s strategy worked well, while the Janata Dal(S) committed a mistake by joining hands with the BJP and attacking Ms. Ramya on the question of her parentage,” he said.
“The byelection results point to the fact that some thing is wrong with the party. The party’s defeat in its ‘own backyard’ underlines the need for introspection on the style of functioning of the party,” he said.
“If these mistakes are not corrected now, the party will face a serious crisis. We cannot afford to take risks, when the general elections are fast approaching,” he said.
Another leader said that the people had rejected not only the idea of a “united opposition” but also “opportunistic politics”.
“Instead of benefiting the party, the tie-up cost the party heavily,” he added.