The executive committee of the Kerala unit of the Janata Dal (Secular) on Saturday passed a resolution stating that it will continue to remain with the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), days after its national leadership decided to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Karnataka, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, where the party has much of its strength.

The Kerala unit of the JD(S) has been a member of the LDF for over four decades. Out of the two MLAs from the party in the state, one holds the power ministry portfolio in the state government.

Another meeting of state officials and district presidents is scheduled to be held on October 11, to discuss the way forward for the party, a JD(S) leader familiar with the matter said. The question is whether the entity in the state can retain its two MLAs under the JD(S) name and party symbol without the permission of the national unit.

Mathew T Thomas, Thiruvalla MLA and the state president of JD(S), said, “The state executive committee of the JD(S) fully rejects the decision of the party’s national president to align with the NDA. The committee declares that it will continue and strengthen the four-decade-old alliance with the Left, secular forces in Kerala.”

He said that the state unit will adopt the same stand that it did 17 years ago, when the national leadership of the party led by HD Kumaraswamy had aligned with the BJP in Karnataka.

However, the situation is different now as the BJP is in power at the Centre and this development has come up just months ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections. Though the JD(S) does not contest Lok Sabha elections in the state as part of the LDF, questions will be asked as to how a section of the party that is allied with the BJP nationally can be a part of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led LDF government.

On September 30, Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan, taunting the CPI(M), said that the government in Kerala is an LDF-NDA government, pointing to the presence of the JD(S). He asked the CPI(M) and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to clarify how an NDA constituent can continue to be a part of the Left-led state cabinet.

JD(S) MLA and Kerala’s power minister K Krishnankutty told HT, “As of now, we have decided that we will not join hands with the BJP. We have severed our ties with the national unit of the party and will remain an independent entity here [Kerala]. We will be a part of the LDF.”

He added, “We are holding talks with parties with socialist and Lohia principles and we will take an appropriate decision later. We have not decided on merging with any other party right now.”

Though there were talks for a merger between the Loktantric Janata Dal (LJD) and the JD(S), the discussions remained inconclusive due to factional differences, people familiar with the matter said. The LJD, which has one MLA and is allied with the LDF, is scheduled to merge with the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on October 12.

The ball is now in the court of the CPI(M) on whether it will accept the independent stand of the JD(S) and allow it to remain a part of the alliance as well as the cabinet. The LDF convenor was unavailable for comment.