Karnataka JD(S) 'split' between NDA-INDIA, braces for rough weather ahead

Mumbai/Bengaluru, July 25 (IANS) Days after senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Chief Minister of Karnataka H.D. Kumaraswamy's comments on hitching with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) raised many eyebrows, the party may face a fresh strife soon, top leaders indicated here.

Kumaraswamy's several casual hints and utterances to the effect in the past few days -- around the time the National Opposition conclave was held here on July 17-18 -- has served to raise the red-flag among a significant section of the party leaders and workers, who are fuming and fretting at what they feel is a ludicrous suggestion.

Among those irked by Kumaraswamy's propositions are several JD(S) top-rung leaders, including the likes of the state President C.M. Ibrahim and senior National Vice-President Maulana Obaidullah Khan Azmi.

"Yes…We have viewed with deep concern the statements by Kumaraswamy… This is not the official view of the JD(S), it may be his personal opinion… The party is not bothered about anybody's personal views," Azmi, a four-time former Rajya Sabha MP and the de-facto No. 2 in the party, told IANS in Mumbai.

Washing his hands off the comments, the Maulana even wondered whether "Kumaraswamy had consulted with the top leadership" since the party has not taken any meetings or decision in the matter so far.

Azmi claimed that most senior leaders are extremely perturbed by Kumaraswamy's blatant signals for aligning with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA and there are heated private discussions raging on the same within the JD(S).

Against this backdrop, the ruling Congress Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar made a sensational claim on Monday that a move to topple his party's government in Karnataka is allegedly being hatched in Singapore.

"We shall raise the matter with the former Prime Minister and party President H. D. Deve Gowda in the first week of August and urge him to clarify once and for all and bury the issue," Azmi declared.

Though Deve Gowda is understood to have put a temporary lid on the boiling cauldron of intra-party differences, some state leaders insist he must "come out with a categorical and final statement" to fill up the fissures before they deepen.

"The party's name is JD (S)… 'S' stands for Secular… If Kumaraswamy's suggestion is accepted, will it become JD (C) with 'C' for Communal? They must not forget that in the last Assembly elections, people overwhelmingly voted for 'secularism'," said a senior leader in Bengaluru, preferring anonymity.

He attributed Kumaraswamy's recent overtures to the NDA-BJP as the 'outcome of his personal ambitions and a desperate desire to again become the Karnataka CM'.

Other senior leaders have privately indicated that if the party, including Deve Gowda, decides to toe the Kumaraswamy line, there could be grave repercussions on its unity.

"Much depends on the party President's stance… Otherwise, we shall have no options left but to chart our independent, secular path…" Azmi said darkly.

On Shivakumar's contentions, a Bengaluru JD(S) functionary said that another 'Operation Lotus' akin to Maharashtra (June 2022) may not be easy as the Congress is a national-level party, unlike the regional forces, Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party, which split in June 2022 and July 2023 respectively.

In the May 2023 Karnataka Assembly polls, the Congress romped home bagging a whopping 135 seats, the BJP secured 66 while the JD(S) managed only 16 seats in the 224-member Lower House.