BANGALORE, September 6: Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly H.D. Kumaraswamy will continue as Janata Dal (Secular) State unit president till the party core committee is set up and it finds a suitable replacement.
Though Janata Dal(S) national president H.D. Deve Gowda had hinted that the core committee will name a new State unit president by Wednesday, it now appears that there will be delay in the formation of the core committee itself.
Moral grounds
Mr. Kumaraswamy quit from the post of the State party chief owning moral responsibility for the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha by-elections in the State on August 21.
List of names
Party sources said that a sub-committee formed to constitute the core committee was given a list of 50 names of leaders representing every section of society and it had to choose 15 from them.
Difficult task
“It is a difficult task and the process of selection is still on,” said a senior party leader.
Senior leader M.C. Nanaiah said that a meeting of senior leaders and that of the Janata Dal (S) Legislature Party had said that there was no need for Mr. Kumaraswamy to resign from the post of State unit president, as the party had secured more number of votes comparatively and it was only natural that a ruling party wins by-elections.
Those who attended the meeting unanimously asked Mr. Kumaraswamy to continue as the State unit president, Mr. Nanaiah said.
A member of the sub-committee said, “We cannot risk the party’s prospectus by taking hasty steps.” Senior leaders were not in a hurry to set up the core committee, he added.
The core committee, when set up, would be the decision-making body of the party and eventually turn out to be the political affairs committee.
This committee will decide on issues such as striking alliances with political parties other than the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the general elections, a party leader said.
