Barely two months after assuming power, the corridors of power is abuzz with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s style of functioning. In fact, many of his party colleagues are openly talking about the Chief Minister ignoring original Congressmen and giving more power to his close aides whom he brought along to the Congress. There are many incidents in the ruling party which indicates of growing squabbles between Siddaramaiah and original Congressmen.
In a significant development, State party chief G Parameshwara has written a letter to the Chief Minister urging him to fulfil the poll promises without ignoring candidates who have lost in the elections. Though the letter has urged the Chief Minister to take 102 candidates of the party who were defeated in the Assembly elections into confidence and taking decisions on the development programmes and schemes in these constituencies, the timing and significance of the letter has an undertone of questioning Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s style of functioning.
In the letter, Parameshwara has urged Siddaramaiah to try and incorporate the promises made in the party’s election manifesto in the State Budget proposal for 2013-14. He said in the letter, “The expectations of the people are high. The lok Sabha elections are also nearing. We have to try our best to meet the expectations of the people and fulfil the promises made in the manifesto.”
In another development, more than 100 office-bearers recently submitted a memorandum to the AICC general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Digvijay Singh on his maiden visit to Karnataka urging him to make KPCC president Parameshwara as the Deputy Chief Minister.
However, Parameshwara said at the office-bearers meeting, “There is no misunderstanding between the Chief Minister and me. We have a good understanding.” CM Siddaramaiah also spoke and assured that he would implement the Congress manifesto.
Meanwhile, an announcement made by party general secretary Digvijay Singh recently asking to set up a panel ostensibly for proper Government-party coordination has stirred the hornets’ nest. Many senior Congressmen interpreted the decision as “keeping him (Chief Minister) on leash” and find it as the beginning of assertion by original Congressmen.
A senior Congress leader on the condition of anonymity told The Pioneer that the panel also looks into the reasons behind the defeat of Congress president G Parameshwara. “By all means the panel reign in Siddaramaiah in taking unilateral decisions to corner credit for himself,” he asserted.
Even as the Congress claims that the coordination panel is not meant to rein in Siddaramaiah, it is getting bogged down over the increasing demand to make Parameshwara the deputy Chief Minister. Sixty-four-year-old Siddaramaiah joined the Congress only in 2006 after being in the Janata parivar for most of his political career.
Karnataka sends 28 members to the lok Sabha. In 2009, the Congress won only six seats with the BJP taking 19 and the Janata Dal-Secular three. After having won 122 seats in the 225-member Assembly, the Congress is aiming to bag more than 20 lok Sabha seats. It has already started the process of selecting candidates.
According to AICC sources, the party on the directions of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi would soon announce a 14-member coordination panel to oversee the working between party and the Government.
Sources said the proposed panel, announced by Singh during his first visit on June 3 after he was made the in-charge of the party affairs in Karnataka, will have Siddaramaiah and all five Union Ministers from the State (Mallikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily, Rahman Khan, Oscar Fernandes and KH Muniyappa).
The other members include KPCC president G Parameshwara, AICC general secretary BK Hariprasad, former Union Minister and MlC MV Rajashekharan, former legislative Council chairman Veeranna Mattikatti and first-time MP Jayaprakash Hegde, a former Janata Parivar man.