Rahul’s absence will hit Karnataka politics hard

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, May 30, 2019 : In fact, so strong was the connection between Gandhi and HDK that the high command used to bypass the local Congress leaders in taking decisions to keep the coalition intact. Though senior Congress leaders in Karnataka frowned upon the ‘political hotline’ facility that HDK enjoyed with Gandhi, the high command used to brush it aside, Yahoo reported.

 

With Gandhi no longer in the picture and the ‘hotline’ getting abruptly snapped, local Congress leaders see their time coming. But as of now, these leaders would not dare rock the coalition boat as they foresee the BJP hungry for a snap poll having bagged 177 of the Assembly constituencies in the Lok Sabha polls.

But the wait may not be long and open-ended. The Congress loves to bully Kumaraswamy. Prone to irritation and highly sensitive to any comment, the Karnataka Chief Minister will find the future tough to handle sans the Gandhi factor.

As HDK is left alone to drift, the Congress Legislative Party has temporarily called it a truce. The MLAs have assured the party that they would remain united and support the present dispensation, not out of love for Kumaraswamy, but to avoid the snap poll that the BJP is trying to force upon Karnataka.

But the unity in the Congress will not last long. The rebels in the Congress have demanded a berth in the HDK cabinet; if not, they have threatened to walk out. The BJP plans to give tickets to these rebels in case of an Assembly election, and, possibly a cabinet berth.

But HDK will find it difficult to accommodate the Congress rebels in his Cabinet. The loyalists headed by former Chief Minister Dharam Singh’s son Ajay Singh have already warned the party that placating the rebels at the cost of loyal partymen would be perilous.

It is a Catch-22 situation for HDK and Congress leaders.

The Congress also has another noisy group in its ranks which wants Siddaramaiah to take over as CM. They point out that Kumaraswamy has been not only ineffective, but also inefficient. He is more concerned about his family rather than the state and this was the sole reason why the Congress sank along with the JD(S) in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

While this faction keeps stoking Siddaramaiah’s ambition, the former chief minister himself is fighting a battle for survival as the Lok Sabha results have thrown a big question mark on his leadership and his, what was considered undisputed, grip over the Mysuru region.

In fact, the biggest loser in the Lok Sabha poll is not former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, but Siddaramaiah who, ironically, did not even contest.

Siddaramaiah, the Congress legislature party leader was the face of Karnataka Congress during the Lok Sabha elections. Now he is facing flak for Congress party’s worst-ever outing in Lok Sabha polls in the state.