Down, not out: Gowda son says he’s JD-S leader still

Unfazes by the decision of the JD(S) national executive to suspend him and 39 legislators supporting him, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumar...

Unfazes by the decision of the JD(S) national executive to suspend him and 39 legislators supporting him, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy today said that he continued to be the leader of the JD(S) Legislature Party.

‘‘Speaker of the Assembly Krishna has already recognised me as the leader of the Legislature Party of the JD(S),’’ he said while reacting to the party’s national executive decision yesterday ratifying the suspension of Kumaraswamy and 39 MLAs for forming a government with the BJP support and referring their action to the disciplinary action committee.

He said that all issues would be sorted out in the party forum. He said that he would soon undertake the second expansion of his ministry to set at rest the discontent brewing in the JD(S) and the BJP camps after the February 17 ministry expansion that saw the induction of 20 ministers. ‘‘Discontent is a common feature in any political party on such matters,’’ he said.

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The BJP has been facing much heat, with several ministerial aspirants said to be unhappy with the party leadership for ignoring seniority and preferring newcomers. Kumaraswamy said that he would leave for New Delhi today to meet several Union ministers, including Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav tomorrow to press for pending projects clearance.

On February 23, he will meet Karnataka MPs to drum up their support for the state’s pending projects, he said adding that the new government would present its budget during the second and third week of March.

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