Thiruvananthapuram | The Kerala unit of the Janata Dal (Secular) has decided to completely sever ties with its national leadership, led by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, which is allied with the BJP, and will merge with a new political party.

An official announcement in this regard will be made on Wednesday.

The source claimed that the party's MLAs will not face the threat of disqualification, as the Kerala unit will merge with a party that is already registered with the Election Commission of India.

As per the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, such a merger would protect the MLAs from disqualification, the source said.

Under the Tenth Schedule, protection from disqualification applies only if at least two-thirds of the MLAs of a legislature party agree to merge with another party.

At present, the JD(S) has two MLAs in the state -- Mathew T Thomas from Thiruvalla and state Power Minister K Krishnankutty from Chittur.

The move comes as the state heads towards Assembly polls expected by April this year.

The state leadership believes that this will put an end to allegations by the Congress-led UDF that a party which is part of the BJP-led NDA at the national level has representatives in the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala.

The political crisis began after the JD(S) joined the BJP-led alliance during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The state unit, which is aligned with the CPI(M)-led LDF, came under severe opposition attack after H D Kumaraswamy became a Cabinet Minister in the NDA government at the Centre.