Senior Cong leader takes another swipe at Siddaramaiah, loyalists hit back

B K Hariprasad, seen as belonging to D K Shivakumar camp, has been smarting over not being made minister; has also been trying to rally OBC groups behind him

Senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad. (PTI/File)

Written by: Akram M

4 min readBengaluruSep 12, 2023 08:00 AM IST First published on: Sep 12, 2023 at 08:00 AM IST

Having managed a united front through the Karnataka Assembly elections earlier this year, which helped secure it a landslide win, the Congress is increasingly coming under pressure due to the public outbursts by senior party leader B K Hariprasad against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Hariprasad, who is an MLC and was Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council under the previous BJP government, has been unhappy about not being made a minister, for which he holds Siddaramaiah responsible, and has been taking swipes at the CM.

Siddaramaiah loyalists have expressed their displeasure over Hariprasad’s public remarks. Industries Minister M B Patil said the high command was seized of the matter and “any issues should be discussed within the confines of the party”.

“B K Hariprasad is a senior leader who has been AICC general secretary and Rajya Sabha member, and is a responsible member of the Congress,” he said, adding that the party cannot let his statements pass, and that AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior leaders will take a decision.

Hariprasad’s remarks are also creating a buzz as he is considered part of the camp of Deputy CM Shivakumar in the Karnataka Congress. Bitter rivals, Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah had buried their differences for the course of the elections, but there had been a tussle between them for the CM’s post.

By assembling seers of OBC groups for his Bengaluru rally, Hariprasad, a leader of the Billava OBC group, is also seen as trying to position himself as a leader of stature commensurate with Siddaramaiah, who is considered the tallest OBC leader in the state.

Some believe that beyond pushing for a Cabinet berth, Hariprasad is preparing the ground for Siddaramaiah to make way as CM after two-and-a-half years. There had been talk of Shivakumar replacing the veteran in the job half-way through the tenure, but lately, this had died down.

Hariprasad’s indirect attacks on Siddaramaiah began a month ago when, at an event, he recalled his stint with the All India Congress Committee (AICC), and said that in that capacity, he had played a role in appointing CMs to five states. “An OBC leader like Bhupesh Bhagel was made CM of Chhattisgarh. I know well how to make CMs and how to change them,” he said.

Last week, at a rally of Idiga, Billava, Namadhari and several other OBC communities, Hariprasad said: “Someone who wears a panche (dhoti), a Hublot watch and a khaki chaddi inside cannot be a socialist.”

The reference seemed to be to the Hublot watch controversy faced by Siddaramaiah during his earlier tenure as CM in 2016. After the row erupted over a leader claiming to be a socialist wearing a Rs 40-lakh watch, Siddaramaiah had declared it a state asset and deposited it with the Assembly Secretariat.

Hariprasad also said that state Home Minister and Dalit leader G Parameshwara had seen “demotion” under the current Congress rule. “There has been a demand to make a Dalit CM for the past 75 years. Parameshwara, who was Karnataka PCC president for a long time, had a chance to be made CM as he was Deputy CM in the past. He was demoted to a lower berth. We cannot accept this. This is shameful,” he said.

Siddaramaiah was questioned about Hariprasad’s remarks, but the CM refused to respond, asking whether Hariprasad had named him specifically.

On Monday, Hariprasad said his comments did not mean there were divisions in the party. “There is democracy in the Congress and we are free to express our views,” he said.