Is CM Siddaramaiah on the chopping block?

Bengaluru, Apr 28: The Congress high command has kept the state party leaders guessing on the changes it might bring in, in the wake of complaints mounting against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

The Congress loyalists and old-timers hope that the high command will finally act and prevent Siddaramaiah from further damaging the party's image. However, those loyal to the chief minister are confident that their leader will once again sail through this turbulent phase.

A section of the party MLAs, who are also aspiring to become ministers, are left speculating on the much-awaited reshuffle of the Council of Ministers.

Siddaramaiah has been facing the heat from his own partymen following a series of missteps in the past few months, including accepting a diamond-studded wristwatch as a gift, setting up the Anti-Corruption Bureau and thereby weakening the Karnataka Lokayukta, and awarding a government contract to set up a superspecialty laboratory to a company owned by his younger son, Dr Yathindra.

Siddaramaiah baiters grabbed the opportunity immediately and complained to the high command. They are mounting pressure on the high command to change the leadership. Former chief minister S M Krishna has taken the lead in this regard.

Even Congress state president G Parameshwara met AICC president Sonia Gandhi a few weeks ago in Delhi and apprised her of the controversy over the chief minister favouring his son.

Though the central leadership has made it clear that the high command was upset with Siddaramaiah and that it would soon take an appropriate measure, neither the leadership nor the high command has so far given any clue as to how it would deal with the possible upheaval in Karnataka. While some believe that Siddaramaiah will be shown the door, the chief minister's staunch followers say the high command will not run the risk of antagonising the backward classes by unceremoniously removing him.

Siddaramaiah's followers are of the view that the party will pay a heavy price if it upsets the backward classes who are in sizeable numbers in Karnataka.

The backward classes used to remain scattered all these years. So, they were never considered as a vote bank. But Siddaramaiah has successfully brought them all together after becoming the chief minister, they argued. At the most, Siddaramaiah may go in for a Cabinet reshuffle, they said.

Appointment denied?

Siddaramaiah baiters are claiming that the high command has been denying appointment to him in the last few days. The chief minister had sought appointment at least thrice this month to discuss the demand made by a section of the MLAs to reshuffle the council of ministers. But the high command has refused to give him an appointment. Instead, it directed him to tour the drought-affected areas.

The high command has no time to devote to Karnataka as it is preoccupied with elections to the five state assemblies.

Congress high command likely to quiz CM over rows

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is expected to come to Delhi by next week to meet Congress top brass amidst speculation from some quarters whether there could be a change of guard ahead of Assembly polls in Karnataka in 2018.

This is his first visit after he got embroiled with series of controversies including luxury watch, setting up Anti- Corruption Bureau and a private company Matrix, in which his son was a director, getting contract to run a laboratory in government hospital.

While the Congress high command is likely to confront him over repeated rows and the sources close to the chief minister told Deccan Herald that he was coming to explain the steps taken to address the prevailing drought situation in the state.

Senior Congress leaders from the state including state unit president G Parameshwara, former chief minister S M Krishna and Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge met Congress president Sonia Gandhi recently apparently to “update” the political developments in the state.

3 leaders eyeing CM's post

Though there is a speculation that all the three leaders who were eyeing the chief minister's post, were lobbying for removal of Siddaramaiah, the only clear indication was that the Congress high command is not happy with Siddaramaiah. However, it is not yet clear whether the party top brass will give a green signal for a change of leadership immediately.

Despite pressure on the party to make a dalit as Karnataka chief minister, no such plan is ready now, said a senior party leader.

One view in the Congress is that, having lost power in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the party should be very cautious on how to go about sorting out problems in Karnataka. Moreover, the party is also keenly watching the outcome of Assembly elections in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Assam.

The party high command, which is worrying over declining popularity of the chief minister, particularly after his series of controversies, is also planning new strategies for strengthening the organisation following the appointment of former chief minister Yeddyurappa as BJP state unit president.