`Mumbai-Karnataka Dal leaders ignored'

dharwad: is the janata dal (u) in karnataka heading for a split? this is the question being asked by party workers in north karnataka. the reason: they feel they are being neglected by the party's top brass. to drive home their point, the jd(u) workers cite the example of the function held at ravindra kalakshetra in bangalore on wednesday in memory of former chief minister j.h.patel. ``most of the guests and speakers at the function are from areas other than the mumbai-karnataka region,'' they said in unison. they further alleged that the programme, `j.h. patel: ondu nenapu', was dominated by leaders of south karnataka. leaders from north karnataka --basavaraj horatti, n.h. konareddy, basavaraj rayareddy, k.b. shanappa, vaijanath patil, umesh katti, m.p. nadagouda and chief whip h. honnappa --were not among the guests. except a.b. patil, s.s. patil and s.r. bommai, all others were from south karnataka, lamented district jd(u) leader k.r. raju. the attitude of some leaders will only be detrimental to the efforts of unification of janata dal factions which was the dream of j.h. patel, the workers pointed out. n.b. shurpali of jd(u) has urged the party leaders to be cautious about ``certain vested interests'' which are working against unification of janata dal groups and trying to further create groupism.