Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (MS)

Bengaluru, Sep 2: A strategy is planned to avoid the control of former CM Siddaramaiah over the coalition government of the state by transferring him to the national level politics of the Congress party. The state Congress leaders have proposed this idea to the Congress high command in order to avoid the nuisance to the coalition government due to the presence of Siddaramaiah in the state and also to relieve him from state politics in a dignified manner.

As per the strategy, Siddaramaiah will be made as the star campaigner in the coming Lok Sabha elections. In addition, he will be forcefully made to contest as a candidate on Congress party ticket for the parliamentary election. The fundamental purpose of this exercise is to avoid any embarrassment to chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, who seems to be under tremendous pressure due to the differences he has with Siddaramaiah.

AICC president Rahul Gandhi will summon Siddaramaiah to Delhi as soon as he returns from this tour of Europe and will hold a discussion in this regard. In addition, it is learnt through sources that Siddaramaiah will be strictly warned to avoid giving statements that destabilize the coalition government, holding a separate meeting of MLAs and also giving taunting statements directly or indirectly through his supporters against HDK and the government.

According to reliable sources, Siddaramaiah is likely to be called for national politics duty as soon as the extension of the cabinet of ministers and the first-phase nomination for the board and corporations is completed.

Congress leaders have appraised Rahul Gandhi that there is a possibility that the coalition government may run into trouble after the Lok Sabha elections due to the confusion and chaos created by unnecessary statements, most of which are revolving around Siddaramaiah. In addition, chief minister Kumaraswamy who met Rahul Gandhi recently has also informed him about the developments of the state politics. So the high command has slated a simple formula to avoid any harm to the coalition government due to Siddaramaiah.

Calculation of Congress high command

If the former CM is called to national duty stating that his services are required for the party in national level politics and also showing him that he is one of the high-status leaders of the Congress party, then there will be no dissent among his follower and the Kuruba community to which Siddaramaiah belongs to.

It will not be difficult to get Siddaramaiah elected from Koppal or Bagalkot constituencies if there will be an alliance between JD (S) and Congress. If Siddaramaiah gets elected to the Lok Sabha his control on the coalition government will come down on its own. This is the thought of the Congress high command. Moreover, Siddaramaiah is expected to be fielded as an excuse saying that Rahul Gandhi is expecting to win highest seats in the Lok Sabha elections from the state of Karnataka and that is why he has asked him to make a list of influential candidates including Siddaramaiah.

It is learnt that this strategy is made to strengthen the coalition government by shunting Siddaramaiah to the national politics and giving the in-charge of state politics to the team of Dr G Parameshwar, DCM, D K Shivakumar, minister and Dinesh Gundu Rao, president of KPCC.

Belagavi issue creates a ruckus in KPCC meeting

In the KPCC meeting that was held on Saturday, September 1 to discuss the preparations for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections and also the selection of candidates was marred by the Belagavi issue.

The differences that arose between MLA Laxmi Hebbalkar and Jarakiholi brothers with regard to the nomination of president and vice-president for Primary Land Development (PLD) bank echoed strongly in the meeting. Congress state In-charge K C Venugopal had a tough time pacifying warring factions. Minister Sathish Jarakiholi vented his unhappiness by not attending the meeting.

Heated arguments ensued between Ramesh Jarakiholi and Firoz Sait with regards to the election of the candidate for Belagavi constituency. The participation of D K Shivakumar in the Belagavi meeting also became a bone of discussion in the meeting. As the argument reached a boiling point, D K Shivakumar arrived at the KPCC office. An attempt to patch up through discussion was also held. However, none of these gave any fruitful result and the Belagavi meeting had to be postponed.