Within days of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the State, there are rumblings yet again in the State Congress reaching all the way to the high command.
The former External Affairs Minister and former Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, called on AICC president Sonia Gandhi and Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Friday and reportedly discussed the “political situation in Karnataka”.
He is believed to have told the high command the necessity of a leadership change citing several “unilateral” decisions of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, especially the tie-up with JD(S) in the BBMP.
Mr. Krishna is said to have talked to Ms. Gandhi about the lack of coordination between the party and government. He also met Ms. Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel. Party sources said actor and former MP Ramya too met Ms. Gandhi.
It is no secret that many leaders had expressed reservation on joining hands with JD(S) in the BBMP. Mr. Krishna had openly expressed displeasure about the government several times in the recent past.
‘Let down’
“Loyal” Congress leaders Mr. Krishna, M.V. Rajasekharan, C.K. Jaffer Sharief, and Mallikarjun Kharge argue that they were “let down” by Mr. Siddaramaiah while the deciding location of projects or policy decisions.
A few days ago, former Minister H. Vishwanath passed critical comments against the government saying “it did not live up to the expectations of the people, particularly with regard to action against land sharks.”
KPCC president G. Parameshwara, who has been lobbying hard to become a Minister, has reportedly joined hands with veteran leaders. Though the party wanted an immediate Cabinet expansion/reshuffle, Mr. Siddaramaiah has been delaying the induction of new faces citing one or the other reason for over a year and this has disappointed many legislators, sources said.
Meanwhile, Karnataka State Forest Industry Corporation chairman Chalavadi Narayanaswamy openly demanded that a Dalit Chief Minister replace Mr. Siddaramaiah. However, PWD Minister H.C. Mahadevappa, a loyalist of Mr Siddaramaiah, said: “The Chief Minister’s post is not vacant” and ruled out any change.
