About half a dozen Congress leaders appear to be drifting away from the party seeking greener pastures.
Disgruntled over unfulfilled aspirations, leaders V. Srinivas Prasad, Satish Jarkiholi, M.H. Ambareesh, and Qamarul Islam (all former Ministers dropped during reshuffle), and Planning Board Deputy Chairman C.M. Ibrahim and Malikayya Guttedar, MLA, have been keeping a low profile for some time now.
Friends grow apart
After Mr. Prasad’s resignation from the party earlier this week, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his confidant Mr. Ibrahim have been involved in public spat over the last two days.
While some leaders have been criticising the government after being dropped from the Cabinet, others have been keeping low after they were denied ministerial positions.
Mr. Ibrahim has made public his resentment against the Chief Minister and said that “Mr. Siddaramaiah is not what he was in the past” and that he had changed along with the system. Lambasting the State administration, Mr. Ibrahim said the performance of the government was not at the expected level and this was largely due to “bad system”.
Taking a dig at the Chief Minister, Mr. Ibrahim said: “We are good friends. But what has the State got? What progress has the State achieved?”. He questioned the commitment of the officials in ensuring good administration. Mr. Ibrahim’s remarks have created ripples in political circles, particularly since he had been close to Mr. Siddaramaiah and had never openly criticised him in the past.
Sources in the Congress told The Hindu that Mr. Ibrahim was frustrated after being denied ticket in the last Rajya Sabha elections from the State legislative Assembly.
Meanwhile, reacting sharply to the comments against him by the Deputy Chairman, Mr. Siddaramaiah said in Mysuru on Saturday that it was not possible to please “discontented” people. “ I cannot help people who are always unhappy,” he told reporters.
Bonding with JD(S)?
Interestingly, Mr. Ibrahim praised former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and described him as “a good administrator” and asked Mr. Siddaramaiah to maintain a good bond with the senior leader.
Sources said Mr. Ibrahim has had one round of talks with Mr. Gowda about joining the JD(S) and the party may give him a position only next to State JD(S) president H.D. Kumaraswamy. Besides Mr. Prasad and Mr. Ibrahim, the JD(S) has been wooing leaders such as Mr. Jarkiholi, Mr. Qamarul, Mr. Ambareesh, and Mr. Guttedar too, sources said.
Supporters suspended
Meanwhile, two supporters of Mr. Prasad have been suspended from the Congress for reportedly identifying themselves with the former Minister.
