H D Kumaraswamy along with his son Nikhil Gowda and Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant with J P Nadda and Amit Shah.
Credit: X/@JPNadda
The decision of Janata Dal(S) to join hands with the BJP has put the party state unit and the ruling CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) in a dilemma.
JD(S) is a coalition partner of the LDF in Kerala, and the party has two MLAs, including a minister. As the JD(S) state leadership is delaying a decision on its stand on the national leadership's decision to join hands with the BJP, the Congress is also putting the CPM under pressure.
Opposition leader V D Satheensan of the Congress alleged that the CPM's reluctance to oust JD(S) from the Left front, despite the latter aligning with the BJP at the national level, was exposing the double standards of the CPM.
Differences within the JD(S) state unit over various options are learnt to be the reason for the party to delay firming up the decision. Even as party state leaders maintain that it will remain with the Left Front in Kerala, the CPM was also insisting on a firm decision of the party's state unit on breaking up from the national unit.
Even though a merger of JD(S) and Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) was progressing earlier, the decision of the LJD to merge with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had not gone down well with many in the JD(S). Hence the move was put on hold.
Earlier also the JD(S) Kerala unit faced similar embarrassments owing to the stand of the party's national leadership. JD(S) decision to support NDA's Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu was the latest instance in which the party state leadership was caught up in embarrassment.
A section in the JD(S) believes that the party Kerala unit should remain independent and stay with the Left Front in Kerala. The two MLAs of the party, including Power Minister K Krishnankutty, are of the opinion that the party should be with the Left front.
Even though there are different opinions within the party, the state leadership is trying for a consensus to avoid a split in the party.
The party state leadership meeting, which was scheduled for September 30, has been postponed to October 7.