As the ripples of rebellion formed after Cabinet reshuffle has shown no sign of dying down and there is a demand by the rebels for a leadership change. After failure of talks between emissaries of Siddaramaiah and senior Congress leaders to quell the rebellion Karnataka Congress now walks on a tightrope led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
The rebels have grouped together and demanding a change of leadership openly. The rebels led by former Minister and a Dalit face from Mysuru V Srinivasa Prasad and cine actor turned politician from Mandya MH Ambareesh along with some other Congress MlAs have demanded change of leadership in the State.
The disgruntled leaders have held several rounds of talks and now openly declared a war against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who has reshuffled his Ministry by dropping 14 Ministers and inducting 13 new faces. The discontent now snowballed into a major rebellion in the State Congress which is desperately trying to defend its last citadel Karnataka.
Meanwhile, In a damage-control exercise, the party high command has sent Oscar Fernandes to Bengaluru to quell the discontent in the party. Siddaramaiah also asked his loyalists and Ministers HC Mahadevappa and KJ George to mollify the legislators dropped from the Ministry.
Fernandes said “Prasad has expressed his commitment to the party”. But Prasad said, “We expect more Congress MlAs to join our camp. “We don’t want to oust the Government, but our move is to replace Siddaramaiah as he has been taking decisions to ensure a Congress free Karnataka,” said Prasad
“...we will meet on Sunday or Monday. We will all sit together, whatever decision is taken there, is final. Now we have gone one step ahead. To save the party, if leadership change is needed, we are ready for it,” senior Congress MlA from Yadagiri Malka Reddy told reporters after a meeting of the disgruntled MlAs.
“We will fight being within the party. First option is to see if there is any chance to strengthening the party without leadership change. First, we will give medicine, if things are not solved, we will be open for surgery,” he added.
Another MlA from Afzalpur Mallikayya Guttedar, sulking over not being given a Ministerial berth, said “we will decide whether leadership change is needed.”
The State Congress leadership continued its efforts to douse dissidence, with newly-appointed Working president Dinesh Gundu Rao seeking to pacify key sacked Ministers like Ambareesh and Srinivasa Prasad, who have openly questioned Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s action of dropping them.
After meeting Ambareesh and Prasad, Rao said, “...he (Ambareesh) has no resentment against the party. I feel he will come out of these things soon, his support is needed for the party.”
Senior leaders like Prasad, Qamarul Islam, Ambareesh, Baburao Chinchansoor who were dropped from the Ministry have openly criticised Siddaramaiah. Ambareesh has even resigned as MlA, which has not been accepted. Ministerial aspirants like Guttedar, Malka Reddy, S T Somashekar and Rajshekar Patil among others have made open remarks against Siddaramaiah and Mallikarjuna Kharge, whose son Priyank Kharge has managed to find a Ministerial slot.
Somashekar has claimed that eight legislators were contemplating resigning their Assembly membership in protest.
Party sources confirmed State in-charge Digvijay Singh is expected to visit Bengaluru soon in order to control the growing resentment within the party.
In another development peeved at not being considered for being inducted into the State Ministry in spite of his long wait, Afzalpur MlA, Malikayya Guttedar, announced that he would be tendering resignation from his membership of the State Assembly on June 25.
Speaking to mediapersons thereafter, he said that he has decided to resign. He added that he was disheartened by the fact that he was not considered for being made a Minister, although he got elected six times from this constituency.
“I will use my remaining time and energy to oust Congress from Hyderabad Karnataka region and show my power. I will show my clout to both Siddaramaiah and Kharge. I will not become king, but a king maker,” he asserted.
He also sarcastically remarked that going by the turn of events, there is no doubt that Siddaramaiah and Mallikharjun Kharge will ensure that Congress is decimated in Karnataka. eom/blr