JD-S faces split in Kerala (Lead)

The Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) led by former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda appeared to be on the verge of a split as its national executive Saturday rejected Kerala unit president M.P. Veerendrakumar's demand and decided to continue the alliance with the ruling Left.

"The meeting has directed party legislators to sit with the LDF (Left Democratic Front) block in the Kerala assembly," Deve Gowda told reporters after the national executive meeting here.

Rejecting Veerendrakumar's move to go with the state's opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), Deve Gowda said: "Keeping equal distance with the Congress and the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) is the official line of the party."

The national executive suspended party national general secretary Varghese George, a supporter of Veerendrakumar, and also endorsed the national leadership's June 19 decision to suspend the party's Kerala unit secretary general K. Krishnankutty, who had criticised Deve Gowda.

Krishnankutty, a strong Veerendrakumar supporter, had said Deve Gowda had no right to take action against him. "As per the constitution, only state president can take action," he said.

Meanwhile, Veerendrakumar said he would take a stand on the issue only after the party state committee meeting July 12.

The JD-S is a divided house in Kerala with a major section of the party, led by Veerendrakumar, openly working against the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which leads the ruling LDF, during the Lok Sabha polls.

Veerendrakumar, who represented Kozhikode in the previous Lok Sabha, was upset over the CPI-M's decision to field its own candidate in the constituency in the April-May polls.

Veerendrakumar, one of the prominent socialist leaders in Kerala, had taken a strong stand against CPI-M Kerala unit secretary Pinarayi Vijayan for his alleged role in the multi-crore SNC-Lavlin scam. He supported Vijayan's archrival with the party, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan.

Reacting to Deve Gowda's allegation that he and his supporters were interfereing in the CPI-M's internal matters, Veerendrakumar said the JD-S chief was influenced by CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat to align the JD-S with the Vijayan 'camp'.

"Deve Gowda said in the national executive meeting that Karat had advised him not to take a stand in favour of Achuthanandan and stay with the Vijayan camp in Kerala," Veerendrakumar said.

" 'You are with the Achuthanandan group. The prominent group is the Pinarayi group' - Karat told Deve Gowda and Deve Gowda said this in the national executive meeting," said the former union minister.

"Karat also pressed Deve Gowda to take action against me," Veerendrakumar said.

Last updated on Jul 4^th, 2009 at 20:47 pm IST--IANS