Bengaluru: The Janata Dal (Secular) is sparing no effort to take back into its fold leaders of the erstwhile Janata Pariwar who are now in other political parties, in a bid to strengthen the regional party before the 2018 Assembly polls.
Already, JD(S) National President H D Deve Gowda has hinted at opening the doors for all those who had deserted him for one reason or the other, in his bid to provide a political alternative to the Congress and BJP.
Mr Gowda had also gone to the extent of tendering an apology to those who quit and joined the Congress or BJP, for the mistakes committed by him or others in the past."We are holding talks with all leaders of Janata Pariwar to come back and install a regional party’s government in Karnataka since the people have seen the governance of two national parties. The process of their return may start just a few months before the next Assembly polls. We are expecting a sizable number of BJP and Congress leaders to return", opined JD(S) Spokesperson Ramesh Babu.
He said a number of erstwhile Janata Pariwar members were unhappy over the functioning of the Congress government led by CM Siddaramaiah. One among them is State Planning Commission Vice-Chairman C.M. Ibrahim whose relationship with the CM soured a long time back. Similarly, there are other leaders like former minister, Mr M.C. Nanaiah and Mr P.G.R. Sindhia who had remained 'neutral' without identifying themselves with anyone. They would be requested to become active again to help in the formation of a JD(S) government. In fact, Mr Krishna, a former Speaker who quit JD(S) for denying him the ticket in the 2013 Assembly polls, would also be brought back to the party. Although their induction may not happen immediately, it may be four to five months before the Assembly polls. Besides, the opinion of local leaders Is being collected before taking anyone into the party to avoid any kind of unrest within the party before going to polls. The decision to either take or reject anyone is left to Mr Deve Gowda and State JD(S) President H.D. Kumaraswamy.
“We are slowly building the tempo so that it reaches its peak during the next Assembly polls. The biggest mistake we committed during the 2013 polls was that the euphoria started much before the elections but died down before the polls, Mr Babu noted. Self-made destruction: Party sources blamed the state leadership for the present situation. The BJP would not have come to power in Karnataka had both JD(S) and Congress set their houses in order. Besides, internal bickering, feud among leaders and sidelining of senior leaders resulted in the fall of JD(S). Differences over sharing power led to large-scale desertion of tall leaders from the party including the incumbent CM, Mr Siddaramaiah, J.H. Patel, Dr H.C. Mahadevappa, Mr K.R. Ramesh Kumar, Mr C.M. Ibrahim, Mr Roshan Baig, Mr Basavaraj Bommai, Mr Basavaraj Rayaraddi and Mr Mahadevaprasad. They joined Congress and BJP, and became ministers.
Sources opined firstly, the party should get back all leaders into the party fold to give a feeling of that it was no longer a party of 'father and sons'. All those who had deserted should be consulted before taking important decisions. Giving the right post to the right person must become the mantra if it really wants to come back to power. Apart from this, a second line leadership should be built as the party currently does not have it. Decisions must be taken in party forums and not in the houses of either Mr Deve Gowda or Mr Kumaraswamy, sources added.
