Muslim leaders quit JD(S) after alliance with BJP

Rebellion broke out in the JD(S) with senior Muslim leaders, including former minister N M Nabi, deciding to resign in protest against the party's decision to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

As soon as news broke about former JD(S) chief minister H D Kumaraswamy's meeting with BJP national president J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday, a group of Muslim leaders of the regional party huddled at the Kumara Krupa guesthouse and decided to break away.

Along with Nabi, JD(S) senior vice-president Syed Shafiulla, former New Delhi representative Mohid Altaf, youth wing president NM Noor and former minority wing chief Nasir Hussain Ustad are leaving the regional party.

This development could impact the JD(S), a party that wooed Muslims for years by projecting itself as an alternative to the Congress. During the 2018 Assembly polls, Muslim votes moved away from the JD(S) thanks to the Congress' narrative that the regional party was the BJP's 'B' team.

Last year, the JD(S) made senior leader CM Ibrahim its state president hoping for electoral dividends. But in the 2023 polls, Muslim votes are believed to have further consolidated in Congress's favour.

Former Karnataka minister N M Nabi.

"I resigned as soon as I got to know about Kumaraswamy's travel to New Delhi and his appointment with BJP leaders," Shafiulla told DH.

Shafiulla said several Muslim JD(S) leaders want to leave. "Muslim leaders are upset. We're not happy because JD(S), being a secular party, has decided to join the BJP that created many communal issues when it was in power in the state," he said.

Not just Muslim leaders, but even some "secular Hindus" are disappointed, Shafiulla said.

Apparently, at an internal meeting, JD(S) Muslim leaders had expressed their opposition to the party's plans to ally with the BJP. JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy were aware of this, Shafiulla said.

There is speculation that the Muslim JD(S) leaders who are quitting may move towards Congress. Shafiulla, however, said they do not need a party in order to carry out social work. "We will go wherever we get the chance to serve the society," he said.