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EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
BANGALORE, JULY 15: Karnataka Chief Minister J H Patel took the first concrete step that directly threatens the unity of the Janata Dal when he announced on Thursday that he had agreed in principle to be a part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
After an hour-long meeting with Samata Party leader George Fernandes and Lok Shakti founder Ramakrishna Hegde here, Patel told reporters that the Janata Dal had agreed to be a part of the NDA, but the decision was subject to the approval of the party's Political Affairs Committee (PAC) and the National Executive which is to meet in New Delhi on Saturday.
``No chastity is lost if the JD is also a part of the NDA. It is the need of the hour to fight the Congress,'' he said, a day after the party's State Executive resolved to maintain ``equidistance'' from the Congress and the BJP. ``I cannot commit to the State Executive's resolution. I am not bound by it . I agree in principle that the JD has to join the NDA,''Patel said.
If Patel's decision came as a surprise to the media, it was a big blow for the rival camp led by State unit chief Siddaramaiah and Gowda, who were naturally far from pleased with the development.``I would not like to cross the boundary in view of the party's resolution on Wednesday which is binding on us all,'' was all that Gowda said. Siddaramaiah also declined to say much, but made it clear that he was furious with Patel before leaving for Mysore. He too referred to Saturday's Delhi meeting as the final arbiter and added that till then he would abide by the State Executive resolution.
Obviously, Hegde and Fernandes are pleased as punch. Considering the prevailing political situation in the State, the decision ``is a good one'',the Lok Shakti leader said, adding, ``whether Deve Gowda would join the National Democratic Alliance or not was not discussed at our meeting''.
Fernandes, who had made two visits to the city to convince Patel, said he was only ``attempting to strengthen the NDA toensure it gets a majority in the elections.''
But as far as Patel was concerned, he seems to have made up his mind to go the whole hog. In fact, he left for New Delhi soon after.
He is scheduled to meet senior leaders like Ram Vilas Paswan, Sharad Pawar, Chandra Shekhar and Mulayam Singh Yadav in an effort to lay the ground for his proposal, which he was confident would get the backing of the PAC on Saturday.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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