The simmering internal bickering coupled with the Lok Sabha poll debacle, seem to have had an impact on the image of the Congress in Karnataka. The Congress high command is seized of the facts such as what made the party lag behind the BJP in the State, and there is an uneasy calm among factions owing allegiance to different leaders in the party.
According to sources, the Congress national leadership has a “mixed” opinion on the performance of the Siddaramaiah government, which completed one year in office recently. The notion that those who were with the Janata Parivar had grown to become powerful in the Congress dispensation today still rankles the “original” Congressmen, who feel sidelined in the party affairs.
Sources, when asked, clarified that All-India Congress Committee general secretary in charge of Karnataka Digvijay Singh too was aware of these developments.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G. Parameshwara’s chances of becoming the Deputy Chief Minister — a demand that is growing every day — could have come through if he had won the Assembly election from Koratagere last year.
In the race
But, the powerful Dalit leader appears to be strongly in the race for the post if he is nominated to the Legislative Council in June when four members retire. Though Dr. Parameshwara has denied that he is an aspirant for the post, the support that he has been able to garner in the party circles is enough indication that he is very much in contention for the job.
Sources said that Mr. Siddaramaiah could have taken up the issue of making Dr. Parameshwara the Deputy Chief Minister with the high command, but for some reason it has not materialised so far. “Lack of aggressive approach” by Dr. Parameshwara to push for the post is also said to have delayed his chances.
A Dalit has not been able to occupy the post of the Deputy Chief Minister, leave alone that of the Chief Minister in the State so far for some reason or the other is a point to ponder over.
When Mr. Singh met some of the party leaders and functionaries here on Friday, Dr. Parameshwara’s supporters were very vocal in their demand that he take the initiative to make the KPCC president the Deputy Chief Minister.
Veteran leader and former Union Minister M.V. Rajasekharan had said here a few days ago that the Congress would have gained a few more Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka if Dr. Parameshwara had been made the Deputy Chief Minister.
The name of Dr. Parameshwara figures prominently on the Congress list for nomination to the Upper House. It was expected to bolster his chances of being inducted into the Cabinet and made the Deputy Chief Minister, sources added.
