Rebel Siddaramaiah faces party axe

Party sources said Siddaramaiah, also the finance minister, was likely to get the axe on Tuesday or Wednesday. They added that the party decided not to expel him to prevent him from gaining sympathy.

Sources said Siddaramaiah and five other MLAs, including two ministers in the state government, were not invited to the meeting due to their “anti-party” activities.

The action follows their defiance of Deve Gowda’s order against taking part in the conventions of backward classes, dalits and minorities (BDM) across the state— most of them organised by the Congress.

While state party president Thipanna was not forthcoming on the nature of the punishment decided on at the meeting, sources said the legislators decided to make senior party leader M.P. Prakash, who is a Lingayat, the leader of the legislature party and hence the deputy chief minister.

Prakash, who was not present at the meeting, accepted the congratulation messages by fellow MLAs.

Sources said the legislators authorised Thipanna to write to Chief Minister Dharam Singh to drop Siddaramaiah and other dissident ministers — H.C. Mahadevappa and Satish Jharkiholi from the ministry.

“I called the meeting as the legislators wanted to take stock of the damage caused to the party by the attendance of party members in the conventions,” Thipanna said.

Party supremo Deve Gowda refused to comment.

Incidentally, Siddaramaiah has called a meeting of the legislators on August 4. No one from the Deve Gowda camp will attend the meeting, Thipanna said. “The meeting we had today is the official meeting of the legislators. The question of an August 4 meeting does not arise at all,” he said.

Last Monday, Siddaramaiah had stated that he was very much a JD(S) member. Sources said some Congress leaders met him today when the JD(S) meeting was on.