Gowda warned of severe disciplinary action

Bangalore, Dec 20 (UNI) Senior JD(S) leader and former Minister P G R Sindhia today warned of disciplinary action against party President and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda if he failed to convince his son and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to sever ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka.

Addressing newspersons here, he said the JD(S) National Executive Council meeting, to be convened in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala on December 23, would discuss Mr Gowda's stand on the issue relating to the suspension of JD(S) Legislators for forming a coalition Government with the BJP.

Accusing Mr Gowda of having approved the formation of the JD(S)-BJP coalition Government against the party's basic principles, he said the National Executive meeting might take severe action against Mr Gowda, Mr Kumaraswamy and 39 JD(S) Legislators if they failed to come out of the alliance.

Mr Sindhia, also suspended from the party for ''anti-party'' activities for having campaigned for Congress candidate Siddaramaiah in the recent Chamundeshwari Assembly byelection, said he had not done anything against the party's basic principles.

Justifying the convening of the National Executive, he said a majority of party State Presidents, Legislators and Lok Sabha members from across the country, including Karnataka, would participate in it.

Referring to Assembly Speaker Krishna sending him a showcause notice on a complaint that he had indulged in ''anti-party'' activities, Mr Sindhia alleged that Mr Gowda had pressurised the Speaker to take the action and said he would reply to the notice within the stipulated seven days.

Stating that Mr Gowda's attempt to remove him from the Delimitation Commission exhibited the former Prime Minister's vindictive nature, he lauded Commission Chairman Mr Justice Kuldip Singh's decision to refer the issue to the Attorney General for action.

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