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Patel says he will stay and fight

Karnataka Chief Minister J H Patel today said he was prepared to face any challenge to his leadership either inside the state legislature or outside.

Talking to the media in Bangalore, he said, "I am not scared of any threat by anyone to me or to my government."

State Janata Dal president B L Shanker claimed that none of the party's legislators had openly sought Patel's removal, though several have complained about the government's functioning.

Stating that he was not happy with the present crisis in the ruling Janata Dal, Patel said, "I will stay and meet any challenge" even inside the Janata Dal Legislature Party.

Asked whether he foresaw any split in the party, Patel said, "I will not allow such a situation to develop." If there is a split and the assembly is dissolved, "everybody is doomed", he warned.

But leader of the opposition Mallikarjun Kharge ridiculed Patel's stand that he would prove his majority in the assembly, contending that the chief minister had lost majority support even in the JDLP.

He told the media in Gulbarga that it had been proved beyond doubt that Patel had lost the confidence of over 50 legislators in the JDLP who have raised a banner of revolt against his leadership.

The only option for him is to step down to maintain the high standards of the post he holds, Kharge said.

Dissolution of the state assembly and holding of fresh elections is the only way to end the crisis in the Dal, which has affected the working of the government machinery, he said.

Kharge also accused former prime minister H D Deve Gowda of stoking the crisis to establish his supremacy in the ruling party at a time when people are reeling under nature's fury.

But Shanker, talking to the media in Bangalore for the first time after the crisis erupted, expressed confidence that Deve Gowda, a senior leader of the party, would resolve the issue.

Patel also claimed that there was no stumbling block in his meeting with Deve Gowda who is holding consultations with dissident Dal legislators in Bangalore.

He claimed that there is no issue on which he and Deve Gowda do not see eye to eye. Deve Gowda had said he would talk to him and former party president S R Bommai after completing his consultations with the MLAs, the chief minister added.

Asked about the postponement of the JDLP meeting, he said it would be held during the legislature session beginning on October 29. He ruled out cancellation of the session itself since it had already been notified.

Patel, whose leadership has been questioned by some dissident legislators, did not foresee any horse-trading.

Asked about the numbers game being played by the dissidents, he said encouragement of such political debauchery was in bad taste. The legislators had been elected by the people to attend to their problems. "Have they (the legislators) got the right to indulge in this kind of activity?" he asked.

Asked whether the party would take disciplinary action against the ministers and legislators who had revolted against his leadership, Patel said it would be discussed in the JDLP.

But Shanker said legislators airing their views to Deve Gowda on the functioning of the government did not amount to indiscipline.

UNI

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