Expelled JD(S) Karnataka president C M Ibrahim to conduct party’s national convention on Dec 11

PTI, Dec 8, 2023, 6:33 PM IST

Expelled JD(S) Karnataka state president C M Ibrahim is gearing up for a major showdown against JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda and his family by organising party’s national convention in Bengaluru on December 11.

In his capacity as the ‘state president’, the 75-year-old leader has convened a national level meeting in Bengaluru. He claimed that the party members and leaders from across the country will participate.

“We are organising a national level meeting where we will provide accommodation. State presidents from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala leaders, Rajasthan and all over the country are coming here,” the former Civil Aviation Minister told reporters here.

According to Ibrahim, the agenda is ‘Stand for Secularism’.

Ibrahim who was expelled for rebelling against the party leadership for forging an alliance with the BJP for the Lok Sabha election, said, “I am an elected man. They can’t remove me. My father has not appointed me as a president. I have been elected by the voters of the Janata Dal (Secular) leaders.” The convention is aimed at aligning the party with the INDIA bloc instead of BJP led NDA. He also said he is in touch with like-minded people such as Akhilesh Yadav, Nitish Kumar, RJD leaders, K Chandrashekar Rao of BRS, M K Stalin and Pinarayi Vijayan.

Noting that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is contemplating contesting in the Lok Sabha election from Karnataka, he welcomed the decision. He added that ‘his party’ will back him.

“Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi had contested from Karnataka and now her grandson will be contesting from here. We will welcome him here. Let him choose whichever constituency he wants. We will support him,” Ibrahim said.

The expelled JD(S) leader alleged that the BJP won in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh due to EVM hacking.

Ibrahim demanded that the Election Commission of India conduct elections using ballot papers.