Karnataka MLA’s words of praise for Siddaramaiah has exposed fault lines in Congress

Everything had been going well for the Congress in Karnataka in the last few months. The party had pushed the ruling BJP to third position in the urban local bodies polls, had bucked the trend of turncoat politicians winning the bye-polls by defeating one such in Maski and started connecting with the people through its outreach programmes during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But one word of accolade for Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah, which turned him from a “former” Chief Minister to the “future” CM candidate in the 2023 Assembly elections, has caused ripples in the party. The statement was made by Chamarajpet MLA and Siddaramaiah’s close associate BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan. With this, the fragile unity between Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah built during the recent Assembly bye-polls has cracked with both being Chief Minister material and contenders for the post, if the party returns to power in 2023.

At any other time Khan's statement –  that he cannot call Siddaramaiah a “former” CM but the “future” one – made at a function in Chamarajpet recently would have been dismissed as one of his idiosyncrasies. Khan, who was in the JD(S) till 2018, had caused a flutter in January 2007 when as a minister in the JD(S)-BJP government landed up at Raj Bhavan to submit his resignation from the cabinet. This because then Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy failed to turn up at the Chamarajpet Idgah maidan for Bakrid prayers.

But Khan’s recent statement comes at a time when there are voices of dissent in the BJP to replace Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. Those who are seeking to replace Yediyurappa have not given up hope despite the central leadership reportedly vetoing their demand and are expecting a change in the next two months. “Earlier, the goal before parties prior to polls was to bring warring factions together, seal cracks in parties. Now in both the BJP and the Congress the focus is on the CM candidate,” a political observer said.

Shivakumar chose to be circumspect initially saying the Congress will face the polls under the collective leadership. But five more MLAs Raghavendra Hitnal, S Ramappa JN Ganesh, R Akhanda Srinivasamurthy and Bhima Naik owing allegiance to Siddaramaiah have since supported Khan's statement, which seem to have irked the KPCC chief. “I am referred to as Kanakapura's bande (rock). After crushing the rock (bande kallu), its stones can be used either to carve a deity or laid as slabs. I want to be the chappadi kallu (stone slabs) that are placed at the footsteps of the Vidhana Soudha. Use me as a stepping stone to enter Vidhana Soudha,'' he maintained.

The competition between a Kuruba leader (Siddaramaiah) and a Vokkaliga (Shivakumar) has prompted former Deputy CM G Parameshwar, a Dalit, to announce that he is also in the race, while Lingayat leader MB Patil claims he too stands a chance. The shadow boxing between Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah has upset the second line leadership in the Congress. “Some kind of insecurity seems to have crept in among our leaders, which is damaging the party. The BJP is imploding, why should the Congress also implode?'' a Congress leader questioned.

According to him, those projecting Siddaramaiah as the CM candidate had not completed a full term as MLA of the party. “They are just trigger-happy and don't have the responsibility of ensuring the victory of the party or of other candidates except winning for themselves,'' he added.

According to Congress sources, the party's strength in winning the elections in recent years has been at the cost of a split in the BJP. In 2013, the Congress won because Yediyurappa dented the BJP's prospects with his Karnataka Janata Paksha outfit in nearly 24 constituencies. “The Siddaramaiah government gave good governance but lost in 2018 for the sole reason that it alienated the Lingayats by trying to give them a minority religious tag and antagonised the Nayaks for whom BJP minister B Sriramulu is their leader with Siddaramaiah contesting from Badami,” they added.

A senior Congress MLA said the party which once had a bouquet of vote banks was now dependent only on the minorities and Dalits. The minorities are voting for the Congress as they have no other alternative secular party, while the Dalits have stood by Congress because of BJP's anti-Constitutional outlook, he stated.

Siddaramaiah, DKS ground connect

While Siddaramaiah has positioned himself as leader of the Backward Classes with a pan Karnataka image, Shivakumar is a hands-on party man. After taking charge in March 2020, DKS has been working to give a cadre-based image to the party. According to a Congress insider, if polls are held in Karnataka today the party is confident of increasing its tally from the present strength of 68 MLAs to 90. “To add another 30 MLAs to the estimated 90 mark, we need unity among the leaders and not throwing in their hats into the ring for the CM's post. The race should be to defeat the BJP,” he added.

KPCC Working President Saleem Ahmed said the objective of the party at present was to win the Panchayat and BBMP polls which will be held once the pandemic is under control. The party is being overhauled with new faces being appointed at the blocks and districts level.

With the warning by the Congress high command to partymen in Karnataka against issuing statements on the Chief Ministerial candidate going unheeded, the KPCC disciplinary action committee headed by former Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan cracked the whip on Sunday.

Rahman Khan told TNM that a decision on taking action against MLAs making statements on CM candidates will be taken in the next meeting. “For now a general advisory has been issued to all leaders that unity is important and to restrain their supporters from projecting any person as the CM candidate,” he said.