Trouble for Congress in Karnataka and Chhattisgarh

It seems that trouble and Congress party are walking hand in hand these days. How has the party been able to hold together it's legislators in various states is something only a magician can explain.

Barely had the dust settled in Uttarakhand and the Congress is now busy firefighting in Karnataka. After many consultations a cabinet rejig took place following which the trouble started. In Chhattisgarh also with Ajit Jogi launching his own party, six Congress MLAs may leave the party and go to him.

CONGRESS SENDS EMISSARIES

The Congress has dispatched emissaries to both the states. Oscar Fernandes and former Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde have to douse the fire in Karnataka. While its General Secretary incharge BK Hariprasad in Chhattisgarh to do the same.

These three have been trying to salvage the situation for the Congress. The problem started in Karnataka when the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in consultation with General Secretary incharge Digvijaya Singh shaped up a cabinet reshuffle.

The Chief Minister was summoned to Delhi and had two meetings with the Congress President Sonia Gandhi. That was followed by a cabinet reshuffle in which 14 ministers were dropped. This created a huge furore, several MLAs threatened to quit. But senior Congress leader and Congress Lok Sabha MP Veerappa Moily says, "when such a big reshuffle happens there are bound to be some tremors , but there is no crisis."

SUPPORT FOR CONGRESS

However the Congress in Karnataka has the support of seven JD (S) legislators. While according to Moily others are also supporting the government. There are about 145 MLAs with the government out of total 224. Siddaramaiah and Oscar Fernandes have been holding consultations with disgruntled MLAs.

In a bid to ease the transition the Congress has already appointed Dinesh Gundurao who was one of the fourteen ministers as working President of the Karnataka Congress.

In Chhattisgarh Congress General Secretary BK Hariprasad said, " There is no such issue here. Jogi has not been able to make a dent in the Congress MLAs." However one of the MLA is his wife so it's a difficult call for the Congress. But the Congress is not in power so it will not hurt so much. While some of the Congress leaders feel that it is better that Jogi left two and half years before the assembly elections.

Reshuffles are a common occurrence in Congress. This time around with the Congress being perceived as weak at the centre, the legislators are taking liberties. A phenomenon if not nipped at the bud will certainly have a tendency to spread far and wide.