With Muslim leaders in the Janata Dal (Secular) having become restive after the formal announcement of the party’s entry into the BJP-led NDA, former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s reference to Muslims not supporting the party in the recent Assembly elections, has also come under focus.
While the party’s vice-president Syed Shafiulla has already tendered his resignation against the decision to ally with the BJP, the party’s community leaders, who met here on Sunday, have decided to hold consultations at the district-level and meet again in Bengaluru after 10 days to decide on the future course of action. Among those present in the meeting included the party’s working president and former Minister N.B. Nabi.
Multiple sources in the party acknowledged that the Muslim leaders are under pressure from the community and workers to sever ties after the alliance was formalised.
Though the Congress is being seen as a natural alternative political forum for those wishing to quit the JD(S), some are also wary of the move as they have remained in the Janata Parivar since the 80s opposing the Congress or the positions that they could get in the Congress.
Party sources indicated that the leadership is likely to meet the Muslim leaders to explain the party’s situation to ally with the BJP and attempt to iron out the differences. Nikhil Kumaraswamy, party’s youth wing president and son of Mr. Kumaraswamy, however, refused to comment on the development.
“The Muslim community’s focus was to keep the BJP out of power after a series of hatred-filled moves by the BJP government. The community feared that the vote division between the Congress and the JD(S) would help the BJP. While it is true that the community supported the Congress in a big way, it has also stood behind the JD(S) candidates wherever it stood a chance to win. It is not right to blame the community that had been pushed to the wall and was anxious. It also did not believe the party completely given its previous government in 2006-2007 and the BJP’s B team tag,” a Muslim leader in the JD(S) felt.
He further argued: “The community stood behind the JD(S) candidates in several constituencies. Mr. Kumaraswamy won in Channapatna because of Muslim votes. In fact, the Vokkaligas, who are the mainstay of the party, have not stood behind the party unitedly.”
Sources pointed out constituencies in Tumakuru, Raichur, Yadgir, Hassan, and Shivamogga districts among others, where the Muslim community supported the JD(S).
Though the party leadership invited the community leaders to a couple of meetings before the alliance was formalised, it is learnt that the leaders stopped attending the meeting after realising the direction in which the party was moving.
Party president C.M. Ibrahim too had expressed his misgivings and had advised the leadership to delay the announcement. “Soon after the elections, we knew Mr. Kumaraswamy was unhappy that the community did not support despite the outreach. However, we were hoping that former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda would not agree to the alliance with the BJP,” another source said.
Meanwhile, Housing Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan, who quit the JD(S) to join the Congress, said that Mr. Kumaraswamy had sacrificed the ideology of his father, and termed his statement as an insult to Muslims.
“The JD(S) got 19 seats only owing to the support of Muslims or else it would have ended up with five or six. Just to go with the BJP, he should not have said that Muslims did not vote for the party. Mr. Kumaraswamy should tell whether he would have won from Channapatna without the support of Muslims,” he said.
Nikhil meets BSY
Janata Dal (Secular) youth wing president Nikhil Kumaraswamy on Sunday paid a courtesy call to former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa. The meeting came after the JD(S) and the BJP announced a formal alliance before the Lok Sabha elections next year.
Sources said that strategies to defeat the Congress jointly were also discussed during the meeting. Later, speaking to presspersons, he said the alliance has been entered into in the interest of the State.
