With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) planning to call off the fast launched in front of the Secretariat as part of its Sabarimala agitation, National Democratic Alliance constituents are reported to be sour over the party’s failure in taking forward the alliance as a cohesive unit and are quitting in search of safer pastures.
Following the arrest of Bharatiya Vanitha Morcha president V.T. Rama who was on fast, former BJP State president P.K.Krishnadas went on fast on Friday.
The NDA allies are reported to be unhappy over the way the agitation is being managed.
The Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samiti faction headed by A.N.Rajan Babu, which quit the NDA, has kept its options open and is holding talks simultaneously with the United Democratic Front and JSS founder K.R. Gouri. “The majority of the cadre is keen on returning to the UDF. The UDF leadership has invited us to join the front but we are also in discussions with Gouriamma,” Mr. Babu said.
The JSS move has come immediately after the Janadhithya Rashtriya Sabha headed by C.K.Janu quit the NDA to cooperate with the Left Democratic Front.
Though Mr. Babu chose to cite national issues such as slump in farm produce prices, growing unemployment, and flawed economic policy as the reasons for quitting the front, he insists that the BJP State leadership’s alleged failure in giving the constituents their due is the prime reason for leaving the alliance.
Almost all programmes announced in the name of the NDA have in due course been appropriated by the BJP and leaders of the allies are being forced to remain mute spectators, Mr. Babu says. Ms.Janu too had cited similar reasons for quitting the alliance.
Sources said other than the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena and the Kerala Congress faction led by P.C.Thomas, the JSS was perhaps the only major constituent in the alliance and its decision to opt out might prompt others to explore the possibility of allying with one of the fronts.
Detrimental
The defection of these two parties that claim to wield considerable clout among the backward classes might yet again give credence to the criticism that the BJP did not give such sections their due within the organisation or even in the alliance.
Such defections might prove detrimental to the party that was switching to poll mode ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the sources said.
