Thiruvananthapuram: Pressure is mounting on the state unit of the Janata Dal (Secular) to sever ties with its national unit headed by H D Deve Gowda after the former Prime Minister met Modi in Ayodhya and accepted an invite to attend the consecration of the Ram temple.

The JD(S) is an ally of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala, putting the CPM, the leader of the coalition, also in a fix over Deve Gowda cosying up to the saffron camp.

The JD(S) state leadership is holding a meeting in the capital to discuss the issue. All state office bearers and district presidents are attending the meeting.

Though it has washed its hand off from Gowda’s ties with the BJP, the JD(S) continues as an ally of the ruling LDF in Kerala, without actually severing ties with the party at the national level.

The CPM had given a long rope to the Kerala unit of JD(S) despite the issue’s ramifications on the ruling front.

Its representative in the Pinarayi Cabinet K Krishnankutty believes that a new party – Kerala Janata Dal (S) should be formed, but party legislator Mathew T Thomas sees such a move as attracting provisions to the Anti-Defection Act as it would tantamount to joining another party after deserting the party on whose ticket legislators won the polls.