HDK plays emotional card, writes to party legislators

In effort to stem exodus, calls for open house to air grievances

 In what is being seen as a last-ditch effort to save the JD(S), party leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy has appealed to his legislators to come together and discuss issues plaguing the party.

An apparently emotional and worried Kumaraswamy has shot off a two-page letter to all his legislators, suggesting that he is ready to step down as State party president, if it ensures a better future for the party. The JD(S), which is facing a crisis, appears to be on the verge of a ‘make or break’ scenario.

At least five senior leaders are on the verge of making a clean break from the party. Among those rumoured to be planning to quit the party are senior leaders Zameer Ahmed Khan, H C Balakrishna, N Cheluvarayaswamy, Y S V Datta and MLC Puttanna.

However, Cheluvarayaswamy has said that neither he nor any other leader is quitting the party. On his letter, Kumaraswamy said that it is imperative that a ‘final decision’ be taken with regard to his leadership.

“I do not say that the MLAs are not behind me. But there have been several questions raised over my leadership in public forums. There was unhappiness expressed over my supposed unilateral decisions. If the legislators are unhappy, I am ready to let the legislators choose their next leader,” said Kumaraswamy.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, after dispatching the letter, Kumaraswamy said, “We cannot say for a fact as to what developments will take place in the Congress party. Hence, it is imperative that the JD(S) either moves together with one voice or changes the leadership to move in another direction,” he said.

Calling for an ‘open house’ of the JD(S) party legislators on September 3, Kumaraswamy, in his letter, has said that he is ready to accept his mistakes, if he has made any, over the last few years.

The letter dispatched by him to all 39 other MLAs and 12 MLCs of the party shows that Kumaraswamy has played on his party members’ emotions by asking them to come and discuss their problems, rather than going to his detractors.

‘Appeasement tactic’

Senior MLAs, who have seen the letter, have termed it an appeasement tactic and an attempt to reach out to the dissenters.

While some say it may just be another gimmick by Kumaraswamy to bring the leaders together, others say that it is a serious concern when a party leader has to write such an emotional and hapless letter.  But in the end, as one legislator said, it appears that the letter may be a last-ditch effort to save his leadership in the JD(S).