Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Nov 10: A section of Congress leaders are finding it difficult to digest that Andhra Pradesh chief minister (CM),Chandrababu Naidu came to the city, held meeting with JD(S) supremo, H D Deve Gowda, at the latter's residence on Thursday and went back.

The Congress leaders feel that in a coalition set up, both the partners should take one another into confidence. In this case, Naidu returned after meeting Deve Gowda and CM, H D Kumaraswamy. They want to know why Naidu, who says that BJP can be defeated if all other parties join hands, did not meet Congress leadership here. They point out that the Andhra CM not even met coalition government's coordination committee chairman, Siddaramaiah. They say that Naidu's decision to meet only the JD(S) leaders has conveyed wrong signal to the party workers that there is no unity in the coalition.

Some of the Congress leaders want to know whether Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy form the entire coalition government, and how come they overlooked the fact that this can hurt the sentiments of Congress workers. They note that Congress has more than twice the number of MLAs as compared to JD(S). They argue that important decisions like organizing a meeting of all the opposition parties in the city during December are being taken in the residence of former Prime Minister rather than the forum of the coalition government. They feel that right from the swearing-in ceremony of the ministers, JD(S) leaders have been snatching the initiative and projecting everything like their party convention, ignoring Congress in the bargain. If this is allowed to continue, they warn, that Congress will be totally ignored.

Several senior leaders questioned at the office of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee on Friday as to how does Naidu hope to bring leaders of various opposition parties at the national level, taking into consideration the fact that he could not bring leaders of two parties together here. Pointing out that Naidu speaks of saving democracy, they wanted to know whether this is how he wants to achieve it. The way Naidu speaks, he seems to hint that decisions are taken by other parties and Congress workers are needed only for executing these decisions, some of them feel.

The Congress leaders expressed the opinion that Congress has to wrest the initiative from the JD(S), taking cue from its tremendous success in the recent bypoll. It has to stay in the reckoning by stressing its eminence in the coalition environment, the leaders felt. They want the party to take the initiative to organize discussions about the strategy to be adopted for next year's Lok Sabha election.