Disgruntled Congress leaders who were dropped from the Siddaramaiah Cabinet during the reshuffle continued to protest on Monday, even as the party made feeble efforts to douse dissent.
One of the dropped Ministers, Dinesh Gundurao, was appointed Working President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) with immediate effect to pacify city MLAs who wanted greater representation. KPCC President G. Parameshwar in his letter from Germany appealed to the workers to stay calm.
Widespread protests However, discontent among the workers took the form of protests in Bengaluru, Tumakuru, Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Kalaburagi and other places.
The protests were widespread in the Old Mysore region, from where Chief Minister Siddaramaiah hails, and is also a strong Vokkaliga bastion. On Monday morning, actor and former Home Minister H.M. Ambareesh sent a one-line resignation to the Deputy Speaker, which was rejected on the grounds that he did not personally hand over the resignation as per the norms.
One of the actor’s supporters threatened to immolate herself in Mandya in protest. According to party sources, the AICC summoned Mr. Ambareesh to New Delhi for conciliation.
There is much unhappiness over two Vokkaliga Ministers — Mr. Ambareesh and Kimmane Ratnakar — being dropped and none from the community being inducted. The Vokkaligara Sangha has expressed displeasure over this.
Senior party leader and former Revenue Minister Srinivasa Prasad openly aired his discontent and accused Mr. Siddaramaiah of being “ungrateful.” Not sparing Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge, he accused the latter of promoting his interest at the cost of another senior Dalit leader.
MLA accuses party
In Bengaluru, Mayakonda MLA K. Shivamurthy Naik staged a dharna near the Kengal Hanumanthaih statue in the Vidhana Soudha, accusing the party of “compromising the principle of social justice.”
Another ministerial aspirant, Malikayya Guttedar, MLA of Afzalpur constituency, threatened resignation.
Meanwhile, Mr. Siddaramaiah is said to have succeeded in pacifying senior leader K.B. Koliwad, who will occupy the post of Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, vacated by Kagodu Thimmappa, who has now been inducted into the Cabinet.
