JDS chief146;s first step: a warning to ally BJP

Just a month ahead of the power transfer from JDS to BJP, Patel, who represents the minority community and has been handpicked by the party supremo to head the state unit in the run up to the urban local bodies elections, said that the BJP was in favour of the business class and the Congress, with the excise lobby.

8220;Why did the BJP rule in states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan fail to implement the welfare schemes initiated by the JDS in Karnataka,8221; was the question posed by Patel to his coalition partner.

The splinter group within the JDS, which opposed the coalition ties with the BJP in 2006, still continues to oppose it, Patel said.