Congress troubleshooters shine with Karnataka CM decision
Photo credit Twitter Mallikarjuna Kharge
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, May 18: The Congress leadership was able to crack the leadership puzzle in Karnataka in five days even while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had begun delighting at the open show of strength of the claimants for the post of the chief minister. Through the Karnataka Assembly election campaign and afterwards when the Congress bagged a mandate unseen since 1989 the party leaders showed deftness in dealing with several aspirants.
The Congress leadership stuck to the original plot of the party to stick with Siddaramaiah as the chief minister of Karnataka. The Congress at the same time was also able to bring onboard a host of CM aspirants, which included the likes of the state unit chief DK Shivakumar, campaign committee chief MB Patil, Dalit face G. Parameshwara and the Muslim face UT Khader.
“The Congress has been wiser from the experiences of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, and they were deployed in amicably resolving the issue of the chief ministerial position. The Congress also gained from at least three troubleshooters, who have shined with their contributions in running the affairs of Karnataka,” said a senior Congress functionary.
All through the Congress campaign, the top leadership dropped enough hints to send out the message that they are backing Siddaramaiah. “It must be recalled that Rahul Gandhi (former Congress president) had specially flown to take part in the celebrations of the 75th birthday of Siddaramaiah. Gandhi always got Shivakumar to show bonhomie with Siddaramaiah. There was absolutely no doubt in the Congress leadership about the CM candidate,” said another senior Congress functionary.
Incidentally, Patil, Parameshwara, Khader and even Shivakumar were aware that Siddaramaiah was the only leader from the Congress with appeal all across the state. The Congress’ rich haul in the rural Karnataka was credited to the appeal of Siddaramaiah.
But the Congress insiders underlined the role played by K C Venugopal, the party in-charge for Karnataka, who is being credited for the team effort of the party in the state during the campaign and afterwards in making Shivakumar see the reasons to hold back his aspirations. With Siddaramaiah in the lead the Congress gets to work on its backward caste narrative, while the likes of Shivakumar and Patil helped the party make inroads in the formidable Vokkaliga and Lingayata castes. Along with Venugopal, the former communication department head of the Congress Randeep Surjewala is also being credited for his sharp post-poll management skills in delivering the messages of the party high command to the regional satraps. Also, the Congress president Mallikarjuna Kharge has emerged as an accessible and amicable head of the organization, added the party functionary.
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