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Karnataka JD dissidents will decide J H Patel's fate today

Dissident legislators in the ruling Janata Dal in Karnataka will hold a crucial meeting in Bangalore today to decide on their future course of action, even as senior party leader S R Bommai did not rule out the possibility of a change of leadership in the party.

The dissidents, to meet in the presence of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, would discuss the solutions offered by senior ministers, including Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, to resolve the crisis in the party.

They would also discuss the party high command's decision that Patel could convene a meeting of the crucial Janata Dal Legislature Party to enable him to seek a vote of confidence after the assembly session got over.

Bommai told newsmen at Hubli that the crisis in the party would be resolved amicably. However, he said if need be, a new leader would be unanimously elected by the JDLP.

Speaking on behalf of the dissidents, former minister Vaijanath Patil told newsmen that they would support the Patel government if the opposition parties were to bring a no-confidence motion during the session.

Meanwhile, Gowda maintained that no finality had been reached in his talks with the ministers and declined to comment on any recent development.

Gowda also called on assembly speaker Ramesh Kumar at his residence, which the latter described as a "courtesy call".

In a related development, a meeting of senior leaders of Congress decided to move a no-confidence motion against the Patel government.

Dissident JD leaders, however, said they would support the Patel government if the opposition were to bring a no-confidence motion in the assembly session commencing from October 29.

Speaking to newsmen on behalf of the dissident legislators the leaders -- Vaijanath Patil, Srisailappa Bidarur and P C Siddanagouder -- said they were demanding a change of leadership and were not for toppling the party government which had the majority in the house. "We are only trying to change the engine and not the train itself," they added.

Asked whether they would boycott the session, they said it would be decided at Wednesday's meeting, which would also consider the party high command's suggestion to hold the legislature party meeting after the session.

Replying to questions they said the crisis would continue as long as their demand for a change of leadership was not met. They were demanding a change of leadership due to collapse of the administration and the government's failure to fulfil the promises given to the people prior to the assembly election, they added.

They said the dissidents would not mind accepting Patel's leadership if he proved his majority in the legislature party meeting.

In New Delhi, J H Patel welcomed the Congress's decision to move a no confidence motion in the state assembly against his ministry, and expressed confidence that he will prove his majority in the house despite the dissidence in the ruling Janata Dal.

Addressing a news conference in the capital, Patel ruled out leadership change and described the demand raised by a section of his party MLAs owing allegiance to Gowda as wishful thinking. ''So far as I could see there is no one except me for the mantle,'' he asserted.

About the stability of his government, Patel said his position in the state unit of the party is safe and strong and so long as Atal Bihari Vajpayee remained prime minister there is no threat from the Centre like through the invocation of Article 356.

Patel, who held consultations with senior party leaders including Bapu Kaldate, Surendra Mohan and S Jaipal Reddy, said the central leadership had agreed to his proposal to hold the meeting of the JDLP after the assembly session ended on November 11. They have also decided to send a central observer for the meeting, he said.

Patel however admitted that there was lacuna on the part of his government in securing central assistance for flood relief operations but was confident of getting substantial assistance from the Centre. Karnataka has demanded a sum of Rs 8 billion from the Centre to provide compensation to the farmers affected by floods. The state government has already released a sum of Rs 500 million.

He proposed to hand over to Vajpayee a comprehensive memorandum seeking the assistance on Wednesday.

UNI

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