Janata Dal (Secular) chief HD Deve Gowda on Thursday removed the Karnataka unit chief Chand Mahal Ibrahim from his position by dissolving the party’s state-level executive committee, PTI reported.

Gowda appointed his son, former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, as the ad-hoc president of the party’s state unit.

This comes days after Ibrahim defied the party leadership and said that the Janata Dal (Secular) will not join the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.

On Monday, Ibrahim said that his faction is the “original” Janata Dal (Secular) and being the Karnataka unit president, he could make a decision about the party in the state.

Ibrahim also urged Gowda to not give his consent for the alliance with the BJP, citing the resignations of several party leaders in other states. Ibrahim also said that he will form a committee to chart the course of action.

Following this, Kumaraswamy had indicated that actions will be taken against Ibrahim, The Hindu reported. “If his party is original, then let him put up a board that he is the original one,” said Kumaraswamy. “Who has stopped him? Let him do whatever he wants. He is free to do it. It is left to him.”

After Gowda’s announcement on Thursday, Kumaraswamy said that the decision to disband the state executive committee was taken to strengthen the party. “My concentration is to develop my party,” he said.

JD(S)-BJP alliance

The Janata Dal (Secular) joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in September ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

“I am happy that JD(S) has decided to be the part of National Democratic Alliance,” Nadda had written on X, formerly known as Twitter, at that time. “We wholeheartedly welcome them in the NDA. This will further strengthen NDA and the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ‘New India, Strong India’.”

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that the BJP’s association with the Janata Dal (Secular) will lead Karnataka on the path of development and pave the way for a stronger National Democratic Alliance and a stronger India.

After this, the Janata Dal (Secular)’s Kerala unit president Mathew T Thomas declared that they will not be a part of the BJP-led alliance, reported Manorama. The party’s Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh units had also opposed the move, according to The Times of India.

The Janata Dal (Secular) had allied with the Congress after the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections. The BJP had emerged as the single-largest party in the polls, but Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal (Secular) became the chief minister with Congress’ support.

However, the government collapsed in July 2019 after several MLAs from the two ruling parties switched to the BJP. The coalition lost the trust vote in the Assembly and the BJP formed the government with BS Yediyurappa as the chief minister.