Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (JD)

Udupi, Feb 28: Dissent is public again in Udupi district Congress. The Udupi block Congress committee meeting held on Sunday February 27 here in Congress Bhavan witnessed outbreak of another round of dissent and has given space to many questions on party leadership.

After losing the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, Udupi Congress is been witnessing a major leadership issue. Party workers are finding it difficult to choose their leader. Face of the Udupi Congress, Pramod Madhwaraj, literally went on the side lines after losing the 2019 general elections. This has been a major setback for the party.

The lack of leadership issue broke out in a meeting of Udupi block Congress held on Sunday. The meeting was attended by MLA and deputy leader of opposition in legislature assembly, U T Khader and MLC Manjunath Bhandary. Both of them in their address to the party members appealed to work for the Congress party unitedly.

But soon after leaving the dais, both the leaders were surrounded by party members. Few of the Congressmen expressed their unhappiness about the district leaders and asked the issue to be brought to the notice of state level leaders. They also demanded to clarify the party’s decision on a few ongoing matters.

This incident has raised many questions including lack of leadership in the party. The leaders who attended the meeting today were not ready to accept the prevalent issues inside the party. Many of the party members still consider Pramod Madhwaraj as their leader and are ready to work for the party under his leadership.

But it looks like Pramod Madhwaraj is more concentrating to join state politics rather than Udupi district Congress. “All the decisions concerning to Madhwaraj are being taken by state leaders,” said a reliable source of the Udupi Congress.

The question of leadership in the wake of elections might prove costly for the party. Even though none of the party office bearers agree on the question of lack of leadership, the party members are yet finding it difficult to work under a leader in the upcoming election season.