Tuesday, August 2 2005 09:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: In a virtual no confidence move against the leadership of Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) legislators last night (August 1, 2005) decided to boycott the legislature party meeting called by him here on August 4, 2005.

Deepening the crisis in JDS further, the legislators' boycott decision comes as an expression of lack of faith in Siddaramaiah's leadership, though they stopped short of formally removing him from the JDSLP leadership.

"The MLAs and MLCs have decided not to attend the meeting called by Siddarmaiah on August 4, 2005", the party state unit President N Thipanna told reporters after the meeting, which came against the backdrop of relations between Gowda and Siddaramaiah hitting a new low.

Thipanna also ruled out the possibility of any patch-up between Gowda and Siddaramaiah.

The relations between the two leaders turned worse after Siddaramaiah attended a meeting of backward classes, minorities and dalits in Hubli a fortnight ago, further infuriating Gowda for defying him.

Thipanna said the meeting authorised him to take appropriate action against Siddaramaiah and some others and he would do so after consulting Gowda today (August 2, 2005) or tomorrow (August 3, 2005).

Before the meeting, Siddaramaiah, who was not called for it, told reporters that the JDSLP convened by him was legal but pleaded ignorance about the meet held by legislators last night (August 1, 2005).