Siddaramaiah was suspended from JD(S) for 'anti-party activities': Kumaraswamy

Hitting back at the Karnataka Chief Minister for saying that Deve Gowda had expelled him from the party, Janata Dal (Secular) (JD (S))'s state chief HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday (April 26) said that Siddarmaiah was shown the door "due to his anti-party activities". Siddaramaiah was in JD (S) during the 90's.

In 2004, when the Congress and JDS formed a coalition government with Dharam Singh as Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah was appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister. "Deve Gowda didn't suspend him (Siddaramaiah), he was suspended due to his anti-party activities. As a JDS leader he used to organise separate meetings with his Congress friends so the party decided to suspend him," ANI quoted Kumaraswamy as saying. Kumaraswamy was responding to Siddamramaiah's remark on Wednesday that there was no chance of an alliance with JD (S) as Deve Gowda had expelled him.

"Deve Gowda had expelled me from the party (JDS). How come I will have any relationship with him? I'm 100% Congressman, my friends are also Congressmen. They are committed to social justice and secularism," Siddaramaiah had said yesterday. In 2005, after differences with HD Deve Gowda, Siddaramaiah was expelled from JD(S). He wanted to form a regional party "ABPJD" in the state after quitting the JD (S), but he did not because regional parties formed earlier in Karnataka had not survived. He subsequently garnered mass support from the backward classes and joined the Congress at a large public meeting held in Bangalore, in Sonia Gandhi's presence.