BANGALORE, INDIA, JUNE 7, REUTER — The opposition leader once tipped as the man most likely to replace prime minister Rajiv Gandhi faced a growing revolt In his south Indian strong hold on Tuesday.
Ramakrishna Hegde, chief minister of Karnataka, the only state held by the Janata Party which ruled India from 1977-79, lost two seats in the upper house to rethels from his own party.
Eleven vacant seats were filled by secret ballot of lower house members on Monday, and although Hegde loyalists won six seats to the opposition congress
(1) Party’s three, the dissidents must have been elected with the help of Hegde’s men.
Hegde, who last month won a vote of confidence In his leadership, still claims to command 107 seats in the lower house against 50 for the dissidents.
But political analysts say he will not dare to expel the rebels and may be forced to call state elections to try to restore his position.
Dissident leader H.D. Deve Gowda, a former cabinet colleague of Hegde, said: “We will not harm the government unless of course they throw us out of the party. Any action will be only reciprocal from our side. | hope wisdom will prevail.”
The analysts say Deve Gowda Is fighting a proxy battle on behalf of former Janata party president Chandra Shekar, who wants to reduce Hegde’s influence at national level.
But opinion polls show the party Is losing support in Karnataka because of the bickering, which has revived memories of the factional fighting that led to the collapse of the national Janata government a decade ago.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 10, 1988
