NEW DELHI, JULY 21: BJP's allies Samata Party and Lok Shakti today "united" with Janata Dal to be part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the coming elections triggering a split in Dal with the anti-BJP faction removing party president Sharad Yadav and electing former prime minister H D Deve Gowda as the new chief.Climaxing a week-long political drama following Karnataka Chief Minister J H Patel's statement that Dal would join NDA, Dal president Sharad Yadav appeared at a press conference in the company of Samata Party and Lok Shakti leaders George Fernandes and Ramakrishna Hegde to announce that the two parties would unite with Dal which would be part of NDA.The leaders said the three parties agreed to fight the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections under Janata Dal banner with its symbol, wheel, and strengthen NDA and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to enable him provide a stable government.Acting swiftly, the anti-BJP faction met and elected Deve Gowda as the new party chief removing Yadav for "discarding" majority opinion in the Political Affairs Committee meeting yesterday that decided against aligning with BJP.Terming Yadav's action as anti-party activity going against Dal's secular character and fabric, the PAC of the faction led by Deve Gowda said, "this constitutes clear breach of PAC's majority opinion and, therefore, the PAC expresses its want of confidence in the president Sharad Yadav."The Gowda faction claimed the support of 11 of the 15 PAC members including S R Bommai, Madhu Dandavate and S Jaipal Reddy, and said they were the real Janata Dal.Gowda and leaders supporting him told newsmen that their faction would take all steps to retain the party symbol.They also claimed the support of six of the seven Rajya Sabha members and a majority of MLAs in various states.To a question on the fate of Patel who mooted the idea of aligning with BJP, Bommai said a meeting of the Janata Dal Legislature Party (JDLP) IN Karnataka would be convened under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister and state party president Siddaramaiah to decide the issue."Patel may be thrown out. This possibility cannot be ruled out," Bommai said.Today's development caps months of churning within Dal on whether to align with BJP or not in the coming elections. Though the party had voted against the Vajpayee Government in the dissolved Lok Sabha in April, its leader Ram Vilas Paswan had been calling for aligning with BJP on an anti-Laloo Yadav plank in Bihar for which he found support from the state unit.The announcement of elections and desperation among leaders in Karnataka hastened developments within the party leading to split.While the BJP adopted a cautious wait and watch policy on the developments involving its allies and Janata Dal, Congress leaders in Karnataka opposed any moves to align with Gowda faction of Dal. The state BJP unit also opposed inclusion of Patel faction in NDA.
