UNI

Bangalore / New Delhi, Nov 26: Three senior national executive members of the Janata Dal (Secular)  on Saturday announced that former prime minister and party president Deve Gowda would be expelled from the party at the National Conference of the Party to be held in Kerala by January next year, in view of his "betrayal of the party by joining hands with communal forces".

JD (S) Parliamentary Party leader M P Veerendra Kumar, Former Karnataka Finance Minister P G R Sindhia and Surendra Mohan said in a joint statement that Gowda openly supported the BJP-led coalition government in Karnataka and became a part of it.

He had not convened the National Committee after the one held in February this year at which his son Kumaraswamy and other party MLAs who joined the coalition government were suspended from the primary membership of the party. The Committee also recommended to the Disciplinary Action Committee for their expulsion.

They said a meeting of the National Committee held in Delhi in August this year resolved that Gowda had no legal and political right to continue as the President of the party and he had to be removed from the Presidentship.

The leaders said the National Council of the JD(S) would be held at Thiruvananthapuram by the end of December or the first week of January to be followed by the National Conference of the party.

"The National Conference would take the logical decision of expelling Gowda from the party." In this context, they said there was a need to strengthen the platform of secularism, democracy and socialism.

They announced that they would work for the defeat of the candidate supported by Gowda and the BJP in the December 4 by-election to Chamundeswari constituency in Karnataka.

"We will take a decision as to whom to support after holding consultations with secular and the Left parties in Karnataka," they said.