Lok Sabha polls 2024: Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections as the BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular) announced an alliance, Karnataka JDS vice-president Syed Shafiulla announced his resignation from his post as well as primary membership of the party.
Syed Shafiulla said that he resigned after the party decided to join the BJP-led NDA to take on the INDIA bloc in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
In a letter, dated September 21, a day ahead of the formal announcement of the alliance, he wrote, “I would like to state that I have worked hard and served the party in order to serve the society and the community only because our party was believing and was standing on the secular credentials, except when our leader Kumaraswamy had earlier joined hands with the BJP to form the Government in the state.
I also like to mention that I had opted to stay outside the party for the period during which our State unit of the party had joined with the BJP to form the state government.”
JDS had earlier formed governments in coalition with both the BJP and the Congress separately. It was with the BJP for 20 months from January 2006 and for 14 months from May 2018 with the Congress, with Kumaraswamy as the Chief Minister.
“Since the party’s senior leaders are now deciding to join hands with the BJP, I have been left with no option but to tender my resignation to the party’s Senior Vice President Office of the State and also to my Primary Membership of the Party,” Shafiulla said in the letter, that was shared by news agency PTI.
In a big boost to the BJP in Karnataka, the JDS on Friday decided to ally with the BJP-led NDA following a meeting of its leader H D Kumaraswamy with Home Minister Amit Shah and party president J P Nadda. The regional party has considerable influence in southern Karnataka, where the BJP is considered weak.
Headed by former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, the JD(S) has long been a strong third player in the southern state where the Congress and the BJP have been the two main parties. However, the regional party had a sharp decline in the recently concluded Assembly elections.
Following the announcement, Muslim leaders huddled at the Kumara Krupa guesthouse and decided to break away, reports Deccan Herald.
The leaders include former minister NM Nabi, former New Delhi representative Mohid Altaf, youth wing president NM Noor and former minority wing chief Nasir Hussain Ustad are reportedly leaving the regional party.