Bengaluru: The tenure of the current state and national presidents of the Janata Dal (Secular) (JDS) will end by September end. The party is considering extending the terms of both positions by two months, with internal discussions ongoing.
Amid this, there is growing speculation that Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy might take over as the national president of JDS. His son, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, will likely be selected as the state president.
Institutional Elections
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JDS appoints its state and national presidents, along with other office bearers, every two years. With the terms of those appointed in 2023 ending soon, the party is preparing for reorganization.
Membership Drive Launched
To strengthen the party at the grassroots level, JDS has initiated a membership registration drive. The goal is to register a minimum of 5,000 members from each taluk. A team has been formed in each district, including both current and former MLAs. Districts with sitting MLAs are expected to register more members.
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Once the membership registration process is complete, institutional elections will be held. A meeting to finalize this will be held at the end of September. The election process will choose office bearers at the taluk and district levels, which could take at least a month to complete. After all these steps, elections for the state and national president positions are expected by December. The meeting at the end of September will likely decide this timeline.
Kumaraswamy and Nikhil: New Responsibilities?
With the membership and institutional election processes expected to conclude by November or December, the tenures of HD Deve Gowda as national president and HD Kumaraswamy as state president are likely to be extended until then. This decision will be made in the September meeting and sent to the election officer. Given Kumaraswamy’s involvement in national politics and the low likelihood of competition for the national president role, it is almost certain that he will assume the position. Similarly, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, currently the president of the JDS youth wing, is highly likely to be selected as the future state president due to his role in organizing the party.
~ Translated version of Kannada article by Samaga Sheshadri