The Hindu : MCC incidents expose rift in ruling party

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 05, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

MCC incidents expose rift in ruling party

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE July 4. The chaotic scenes and violence witnessed during the last two meetings of the Mysore City Corporation (MCC) have not only dented the image of the corporators in public view, but also exposed the chinks in the Congress's armour.

That the Opposition parties — the JD(S) and the BJP — had little role to play in the anarchy which prevailed during the election of the Mayor of Mysore and the MCC's representative to the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA), is a pointer to the lack of cohesion and unity in the city unit of the Congress. The verbal abuses which echoed in the corridors of the MCC office building, the physical skirmishes between Congress corporators, and the reported jostling of women corporators have exposed the politicians involved.

The first signs of rebellion in the Congress were seen in the run-up to the mayoral poll, which was held on June 30. A serious aspirant for the Mayor's post, Yashoda, began speaking out against the party leadership after it became clear that Modamani had been chosen as the party's official nominee. Ms. Yashoda criticised party leaders, including the President of the Mysore City Congress Committee, D. Made Gowda, a day before the mayoral poll, and threatened to "teach Congress leaders a lesson" on the day of polling.

She turned up at the MCC office premises well in time to file her nomination papers as a rebel Congress candidate. But, Congress leaders reportedly snatched the papers from her, and detained her.On July 3, Ms. Modamani convened her maiden meeting as the first women Mayor of Mysore. On the agenda was the election of the MCC's representative to the MUDA. The Congress, which is stronger than the JD(S) and the BJP in the MCC Council, was expected to call the shots during the election. The party leadership, in consultation with the High Command, chose to field Siddappa, who had defected to the BJP.

But, dissidence raised its head again. Nagaraj, a Congress corporator, decided to defy the party decision and filed his nomination papers for the post. M.C. Chikkanna, who had a grouse against the party's local leadership since he was pipped at the post during the mayoral poll last year, supported Mr. Nagaraj's nomination. Mr. Chikkanna, who is a senior corporator, contended that the party was giving preference to newcomers.

Ms. Yashoda, who was also upset with the party leadership for ignoring her claims to the Mayor's post, became a natural ally for Mr. Nagaraj and Mr. Chikkanna. The former Deputy Mayor, Pushpavalli, joined them. The four dissident corporators were sure that they could secure the support of the JD(S) and BJP groups.

Fearing that the four dissidents may upset their calculation and inflict a humiliating defeat during the election to the MCC's representative to the MUDA, Congress leaders confronted the women Congress corporators who were seated in the JD(S) section. When the corporators refused to concede the leaders' demands, a virtual free-for-all ensued. The former Mayor, T.B. Chikkanna, was seen pushing his bete noire Mr. M.C. Chikkanna to the wall while the MUDA Chairman, Sandesh Nagaraj, menacingly charged towards Mr. Nagaraj and Mr. M.C. Chikkanna. In the melee, Ms. Pushpavalli collapsed and was rushed to a private nursing home.

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