Azad, Venugopal to talk to sullen State party leaders
Congress on Tuesday rushed senior party leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and AICC general secretary incharge of Karnata KC Venugopal to Bengaluru to quell discontent within the Congress-JD(S) coalition. This comes amid speculation about the continuation of the year-old fledgling JD(S)-Congress Government in Karnataka.
Voices of dissent gained ground within the Congress as two of its MLAs met former Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna, who is with the BJP, at his Bengaluru residence on Sunday. MLAs Ramesh Jarkiholi and Sudhakar later claimed that their visit was not political.
Aimed at saving the Government, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has swung into action and is personally meeting disgruntled legislators, mainly from the Congress and is making attempts to pacify them. Kumaraswamy told mediapersons to “wait for two or three days”, while his Deputy G Parameshwara said, “If any decision is taken, you will all be informed.”
In a bid to placate MLAs who have been allegedly approached by the BJP with ministerial berths to defect to the saffron party, Kumaraswamy is planning to reshuffle the Cabinet earliest.
However, former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa said it would be “better” if the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition in the State dissolves the Assembly and goes for fresh polls. The senior BJP leader also ruled out the possibility of any BJP MLA switching sides to the Congress or the JD(S).
“In 177 Assembly constituencies (out of 224) we are in number one place, we have won 25 Lok Sabha constituencies (out of 28), better if they dissolve the Assembly and go for fresh elections...We will welcome (if they take that decision),” Yeddyurappa said.
The BJP, with 105 members, is the single-largest party in the 225-member Karnataka Assembly. The ruling coalition has 117 members — 79 of the Congress, 37 JD(S) and one of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
The coalition Government in the southern State has been fragile since its inception with reports of its collapse surfacing every then and now.
Following the drubbing of the Congress-JD(S) combine in the just-concluded Lok Sabha election, where the two parties managed to win only one seat each in Karnataka, a senior Congress leader has claimed the State Government will collapse after June 10. Of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, the BJP bagged 25 and an Independent candidate won one.
Sources said Azad and Venugopal reached Bengaluru to placate the disgruntled State leaders ahead of Congress Legislature Party meeting on Wednesday. Azad and Venugopal are also likely to hold discussions with the top leaders of the both the parties in the State in order to sort things out.
According to the source, the State leadership has been asked to wait till Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet is sworn in, as any move at this juncture would send a wrong message.