With former Chief Minister and Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah’s talks with Municipalities Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi failing to bear fruit, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswmay swung into action on Tuesday to douse the flames of discontent in coalition partner Congress, which is threatening the stability of his government.
Mr. Ramesh Jarkiholi and his younger brother Satish Jarkiholi — who have raised a banner of revolt against the party leadership after facing a setback in the PLD Bank elections following Belagavi Rural MLA Laxmi Hebbalkar’s candidates winning the top posts — have threatened to destabilise the government if the Congress does not concede to their demands.
Damage control mode
In a damage control exercise, Mr. Kumaraswamy held an hour-long meeting with the Jarkiholi brothers and sought some time to look into their demands.
The Jarkiholi brothers have reportedly placed three major demands before the party and the Chief Minister.
These are: to give the Deputy Chief Minister’s post to their faction; induction of a ‘powerful’ Nayaka community MLA from Ballari into the Cabinet, and stopping “interference” of Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar in the party and in the affairs of Belagavi district.
The Janata Dal (Secular) has been constantly urging the Congress high command to sort out the problem. Mr. Siddaramaiah, who was asked to step in by AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K.C. Venugopal to broker peace, held a meeting with the Jarkiholi brothers on Monday. However, the talks on the crucial demand for Deputy Chief Minister’s post could not make headway.
Following apparent failure of talks, the Jarkiholi brothers reportedly intensified their dissident activity claiming that the Opposition BJP was ready to grant the Deputy Chief Minister’s post for their faction if they switched sides.
However, Congress sources said the Jarkiholi brothers’ politics were confined only to Belagavi district and had nothing to do with the Deputy Chief Minister’s post.
Expecting trouble for the government, Mr. Kumaraswamy rushed to the Jarkiholi brothers and assured them to look into their demands. Though publicly, Mr. Satish Jarkiholi maintained that they would not quit the Congress, simmering discontent remains.
In fact, it was Mr. Kumaraswamy, who to some extent, made efforts to bring order when the former Minister M.B. Patil had raised the banner of revolt soon after the Cabinet formation three months ago.
Meanwhile, the Congress high command also summoned Mr. Satish Jarkiholi to Delhi to hear his grievances on Wednesday. Mr. Siddaramaiah too would be holding a meeting with party president Rahul Gandhi and is expected to discuss this issue.
To settle scores with Mr. Shivakumar, who played a vital role in the victory of candidates of Ms. Hebbalkar in the PLD Bank elections, the Jarkiholi brothers reportedly urged the Chief Minister to stop his interference in Belagavi district. Moreover, the induction of a Ballari MLA into the Cabinet would pave the way for a new Minister to take charge as district in charge of Ballari. Currently, Mr. Shivakumar is the in-charge Minister of Ballari.