Congress infighting will derail governance: Karnataka BJP Chief

Karnataka BJP chief BY Vijayendra on Friday launched a sharp attack on the newly formed Congress Government in the State following Minister Ramalinga Reddy’s resignation over portfolio allocation, alleging that infighting within the ruling party would derail governance and development.

Speaking to reporters, Vijayendra said the resignation of the senior Congress leader within hours of the allocation of portfolios exposed deep divisions within the ruling dispensation.

“Shivakumar may be the chief minister, but this is Siddaramaiah’s Cabinet. The very first wicket has fallen,” he said.

Referring to Reddy, who announced resigning from the minister post, alleging that assurances regarding the Bengaluru Development portfolio had not been honoured, the BJP leader claimed that the Congress Government was already witnessing internal power struggles.

“The Shivakumar Government will not even last two years. Already, there is a tug-of-war over who should get which portfolio and who should be given charge of which district. Amid this infighting, Reddy himself has resigned today,” he said.

Vijayendra alleged that the ongoing tussle within the Congress would come at the cost of governance.

“With the Government that exists today under DK Shivakumar’s leadership, it is impossible to expect development in the State. They are engaged in betraying the trust and expectations of the people,” he said.

Claiming that people were disillusioned with the Congress Government, he said, “The people of the State expect this anti-poor and anti-people Congress Government to be removed. They want a BJP Government to come to power.”

The BJP state chief further predicted that the Congress leadership would remain preoccupied with internal rivalries.

“It would not be surprising if a mid-term election is held even before that,” he said.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka also took a swipe at the Congress on social media, claiming factionalism had become a defining feature of the party in Karnataka.

In a post on ‘X’, he remarked that, “Kannadigas may one day wake up to a morning without the sun, but not a day without Congress infighting in Karnataka.”

Mocking the Congress leadership’s repeated interventions in the state, he said Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala might rent a permanent office or buy a house in Bengaluru instead of repeatedly travelling to the State to resolve internal disputes.

Ashoka alleged that the Karnataka Congress had turned internal conflict into a “full-time occupation”.