KOCHI: Upping the ante, JD(S) Kerala unit claimed on Friday that H D Deve Gowda has automatically ceased to be the national president once he decided to breach the party line and join hands with the BJP.
Asserting that “we are the real JD(S),” state party president Mathew T Thomas said the Kerala unit will remain “an anti-BJP and non-Congress force,” the position adopted at the Bengaluru national plenary of the party.
“We are not under any pressure from the CPM or LDF to declare our position as the executive committee meet on October 7 had already passed a resolution making it clear that the state unit of the party will continue to be an ally of the LDF,” he told reporters after the party executive committee meeting in Kochi. The decision of Gowda and his son H D Kumaraswamy to ally with the BJP lacks clarity, he added.
The meeting decided to initiate steps to unify other state units that had opposed Gowda’s decision to ally with the BJP, Mathew said, adding talks with party leaders in other states have already begun.
Responding to a query, he said the state unit will not float a new party. However, he added that the party will launch a state-wide programme expressing solidarity towards Palestine on November 14.
Minister for Electricity K Krishnankutty, national secretaries A Neelalohithadas, Jose Thettayil and other leaders took part in the meeting. Meanwhile, there are reports that a section of JD(S) is planning to form a new party in the state.