Southern States - Karnataka   

Strong-arm tactics on the rise in Cong.

By A. Jayaram

Bangalore July 4. The two incidents in the Mysore City Corporation involving women councillors and local party chieftains have caused concern, at least in sections of the Congress. They are being viewed as being illustrative of the spread of strong-arm tactics and bossism in the party, and the fall in the calibre of the members. Although the KPCC has called for reports on both incidents, the Mahila Congress has not reacted publicly to them. The lone member of the Congress Working Committee from Karnataka is the Minister for Women and Child Development, Motamma. The outspoken woman minister, who had held out a threat to the VHP leader, Praveen Togadia, has also maintained a studied silence.

The treatment meted out to two women councillors from the Congress by their male colleagues and a local party boss has sullied the name of the municipal body, which no longer remains fair. It is not a concern of the Congress alone. Mysore, which is known as the cultural capital of Karnataka, has a municipal body set up in the last quarter of the 19th Century. The Janata Party Government upgraded the municipalities of Mysore and some other cities into city corporations, and designated the municipal presidents as mayors. The Mysore City Corporation is now resting on the laurels of the municipality.

In the first incident in the corporation, one of the women councillors aspiring for the mayorship, Yashoda, was prevented from filing her nomination papers. It helped the unanimous election of Modamani as the new Mayor of Mysore. Ms. Modamani was chosen as she has been elected for the second time. Ms. Yashoda had laid her claim as she is an educated person and belongs to a Scheduled Tribe.

It is of interest that such incidents are on the rise in the party although the KPCC President, B. Janardhana Poojary, has been laying emphasis on maintaining discipline. In fact, an incident of assaulting a party member, Nagabhushana Yadav, took place in the very presence of Mr. Poojary here in recent days. It was a convention of elected representatives of the people in Bangalore North called by the party MP and former Railway Minister, C.K. Jaffer Sharief. The party workers had been asked to air their views. When Mr. Yadav made certain critical comments about the Minister for Small-Scale Industries, R. Roshan Baig, who represents the Jayamahal Assembly constituency which is a segment of Bangalore North, he was roughed up by supporters of the minister. No action was taken against anyone.

Similar incidents of clashes have been reported from various parts of the State. Two recent ones were reported from Mandya and Holenarasipur in Hassan District. In Mandya, there was a standoff between the supporters of the Mandya District Congress President, L.R. Shivarame Gowda, and the party MLA from Mandya, Atmananda. At Holenarasipura, it was the party MP, G. Puttaswamy Gowda vs. the local leaders. In recent months, Congress workers have clashed in Bellary. Rivalries between the Agriculture Minister, V.S. Koujalgi, and some Congress leaders in Belgaum District have led to clashes. The most serious incident involving Congress workers in recent years took place in September 1999 at Bagepalli in Kolar District. Supporters of N. Sampangi, who was an aspirant for the party ticket, allegedly prevented the official candidate, Muniraju (Chairman of the Backward Classes Commission), from filing his nomination papers. The ensuing clash resulted in police firing and the death of two persons. Mr. Sampangi was elected to the Legislative Assembly as an independent. In the second incident in Mysore, the role of the Chairman of the Mysore Urban Development Authority, Sandesh Nagaraj, has come to the fore. According to party circles, he has donned the role of a boss and is dictating terms to the party councillors.

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