Expelled Janata Dal (Secular) Karnataka president C M Ibrahim will be holding a national convention of the party in Bengaluru on December 11, in what is seen as his way of confronting JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda and his family, people familiar with the matter said.
Organising the event under his role as the state president, Ibrahim said he anticipates the “participation of party members and leaders nationwide.” “We are organising a national level meeting where we will provide accommodation. State presidents from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala leaders, Rajasthan and all over the country are coming,” he said.
Defiant against his expulsion for opposing an alliance with the BJP, Ibrahim said: “I am an elected man. They can’t remove me. My father has not appointed me as a president. I have been elected by votes of the Janata Dal (Secular) leaders,” he said.
He also claimed that the convention is aimed at aligning the party with the INDIA bloc instead of the BJP-led NDA. He said he is in touch with like-minded people such as Akhilesh Yadav, Nitish Kumar, K Chandrashekar Rao, M K Stalin and Pinarayi Vijayan.
On November 17, the JD(S) suspended Ibrahim from the party for alleged anti-party activities. The decision was made by JD(S) chief and former PM HD Deve Gowda. The sequence of events leading to Ibrahim’s suspension began on October 19 when Gowda removed Ibrahim from his position as the party’s Karnataka president. As part of this reshuffle, former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy was appointed as the interim state president and the party’s state executive committee was dissolved by Gowda.
{{/usCountry}}On November 17, the JD(S) suspended Ibrahim from the party for alleged anti-party activities. The decision was made by JD(S) chief and former PM HD Deve Gowda. The sequence of events leading to Ibrahim’s suspension began on October 19 when Gowda removed Ibrahim from his position as the party’s Karnataka president. As part of this reshuffle, former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy was appointed as the interim state president and the party’s state executive committee was dissolved by Gowda.
{{/usCountry}}Ibrahim had opposed the party’s decision to join BJP saying that it was made without consulting the cadre. He also said that the faction he represented was the “original JD(S)”
(With PTI inputs)