Bangalore Congress pot boils: Sack CM’s No 2, says Gowda

Sources said Sonia assured him that the Chief Minister would act on his demand.

Gowda, according to the sources, also lodged a strong protest against poaching of his party members by the Congress. He is annoyed with the party because the man behind the Hubli show was its leader, H. Vishwanath. While banners at the rally equated Siddaramaiah with former chief minister Devraj Urs, leader of the backward castes, Congress leader Tejaswini Ramesh, who defeated Deve Gowda, was present on the dais. So was his detractor, former Union minister R.L. Jalappa.Senior minister M.P. Prakash is expected to be the new JD (S) nominee for the deputy chief minister’s post. The Congress has set its eyes on Siddaramaiah, undisputed leader of the Kuruba community (shepherds). Spread over entire Karnataka except the coastal areas, the Kurubas account for about seven per cent votes and can obviously tilt the scales in favour of a candidate in any assembly constituency. Sources said the Congress would let Gowda have his way for the time being and let the whole controversy die down. Ultimately, it would take Siddaramaiah into its fold. For a party, which is desperate to enhance its electoral prospects, a mass leader like Siddaramaiah is a prize catch. And for the JD(S) rebel, the No 1 slot would get within striking distance if the Congress got a majority in future. The strength of Siddaramaiah’s followers among the JD(S) MLAs is estimated to be 20. The sources believe that at least half of them would follow him out of JD(S).

The Siddaramaiah episode marks a turning point in the JD(S)-Congress ties. The seeds of distrust having been sown, it would not take Deve Gowda very long to withdraw his support and pull down the Dharam Singh government. But before he does so, he has to put an alternative strategy in place, strengthen himself and consolidate resources.

Gowda is trying to make up for the inevitable loss of the Kuruba vote by mobilising Lingayats. The choice of Prakash, a Lingayat, would be the first step in this direction. To reinforce this, he is wooing disgruntled BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member M. Rajashekhar Moorthy, currently the tallest Lingayat leader. Moorthy is being simultaneously courted by Union Minister of State and Congress leader Oscar Fernandes. His only problem is that the Congress is divided on the issue. Those opposed to Moorthy’s return to Congress include Maharashtra Governor S.M. Krishna and former Union Minister Jaffer Sharief.

Gowda, who nurses the ambition of installing his son, H.D. Kumaraswamy, as Chief Minister, is already working for a re-alignment. He indirectly facilitated the victory of former chief minister S. Bangarappa in the Shimoga Lok Sabha by-election by putting up his candidate. He may align with Bangarappa, who has a sizeable electoral clout among backwards, particularly the Idiga community.

In any case, it is the first time that Gowda is feeling the heat of a hostile action by the Congress. Otherwise, it has been the JD(S) chief who has been keeping the Congress on tenterhooks ever since they decided to join hands to form a government. He forced Sonia to install Dharam Singh as the Chief Minister and banish Krishna from the state, embarrassed the government with his campaign in favour of slum-dwellers and ensured the defeat of the Congress nominee in the prestigious Chamarajapet assembly by-election.