Siddaramaiah sits pretty amid Cong section discontent as Shivakumar claims ‘anti-govt plot’ from Singapore

On his part, Siddaramaiah refused to be drawn into the matter, saying “Ask him (Shivakumar) only about Singapore. I do not know about it. Ask D K Shivakumar about it.”

Shivakumar made the remarks amid a foreign tour being undertaken by Janata Dal (Secular) leader and ex-CM H D Kumaraswamy, who is considered to be an arch adversary of Siddaramaiah since the latter’s days in the Janata Dal prior to 2005.

A JD(S)-Congress coalition government headed by Kumaraswamy, which ruled Karnataka during 2018-19, had collapsed after as many as 14 Congress MLAs, reportedly affiliated to Siddaramaiah, switched to the BJP in what was alleged to be the “Operation Lotus” carried out by the saffron party.

Kumaraswamy is currently reported to be in Europe though, with his pictures emerging on social media from a location in Finland. He has been cosying up to the BJP in the state Legislature in recent weeks. However, Kumaraswamy’s father H D Deve Gowda, the JD(S) supremo and ex-Prime Minister, said Tuesday that he has been visiting Europe to “catch up on some rest”.

“It is possible that something is afoot to destabilise the government but it is still very early days. We do not put it past the BJP and others to attempt destabilisation if a lot of dissent builds up in the Congress. Kumaraswamy recently commented after the Maharashtra split of NCP that an Ajit Pawar would emerge in Karnataka in the future,” a Congress leader said.

The numbers in the Assembly is currently heavily stacked against any coup, with the combined Opposition of the BJP with 66 MLAs and the JD(S) with 19 MLAs being 28 short of the simple majority mark of 113.

For any destabilisation bid the Opposition has to engineer the defection of at least 30 MLAs from the Congress camp with a senior leader and CM aspirant playing a pivotal role in guaranteeing a future for defectors, as demonstrated by BJP stalwart B S Yediyurappa in 2019 when 17 MLAs from the Congress and JD(S) defected to his party.

In the past large-scale defections have been attempted in Karnataka by, among others, former BJP leader and mining baron G Janardhan Reddy — who is now an MLA from his own party — with the support of Kumaraswamy, to overturn a Yediyurappa-led BJP government in 2010, but the move failed with the disqualification of the BJP rebels by the Speaker under the anti-defection law.

The engineering of a significant defection is considered a difficult proposition in the current Assembly on account of Siddaramaiah enjoying the support of over 100 MLAs. However, there have been indications of resentment among some Congress legislators in recent days.

A Congress MLC and OBC leader, B K Hariprasad, recently commented on his “capability” to “make or change” the CM. Hariprasad is considered to be unhappy over not being inducted into the Siddaramaiah Cabinet despite his seniority.

A group of about 30 Congress MLAs have meanwhile urged a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) to discuss issues concerning their constituencies. They have also written to Siddaramaiah in this regard.

It has now been decided to hold a CLP meeting on July 27 which will also be attended by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) president, Mallikarjun Kharge. “On Thursday we have called for a CLP meeting and we will discuss issues over there,” Siddaramaiah said Tuesday amid speculation that some MLAs were unhappy with the state ministers for not responding to their demands for development works in their constituencies.

Among the Congress MLAs’ grievances the party leadership is facing is their demand for development funds for their constituencies, which have faced cuts on account of the implementation of the party’s nearly Rs 50,000 crore poll promises in the form of five guarantees – free power, Rs 10 kg of rice, Rs 2,000 for women head of households, free bus travels for women and Rs 3,000 allowance for unemployed graduates.

“We had not called for a Legislature Party meeting for a while. We had called one on July 19, which Rahul Gandhi said he would attend but it got postponed (following the death of ex-Kerala CM Oommen Chandy) . They have sought a CLP meeting and we have called for the meeting. On Thursday we have called for a CLP meeting and we will discuss issues over there. The government is barely two months old,” Siddaramaiah said, dismissing speculation of disgruntlement in the party.

Shivakumar Tuesday admitted that there is pressure from the Congress MLAs for a say in the administration, but he also denied that there was any disgruntlement. “Nobody has written any letter and there is no disgruntlement. We have instructed the Ministers to address the concerns of MLAs. All are doing their jobs. The reports of disgruntlement are rumours. We were busy with the Assembly. The Legislature Party meeting has been called. We will discuss the implementation of the five programmes of the government at the meeting,” he said.

“The MLAs have been told to wait for a while for local works since we are implementing the guarantees. Each MLA is seeking work to the tune of Rs 100 to Rs 300 crore in their constituencies. How can we provide Rs 300 crore for each MLA. We have told them to hold their plans for a while,” the KPCC chief said.

Shivakumar also admitted that there were demands from the MLAs for having a say in the transfers of officials, adding “there is a time limit on transfers and within this the ministers have done transfers and some are left to the CM”.