Siddaramaiah: From peacemaker to troublemaker for Cong-JD(S) in K'taka

Until the Lok Sabha elections, former chief minister Siddaramaiah was seen as a messiah for the defeated Congress to counter Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s blitzkrieg in Karnataka.

But after the poll debacle, with the Congress securing just one of the 28 Lok Sabha seats, the party is now in disarray, with senior leaders accusing Siddaramaiah of side-lining them in the party. Siddaramaiah emerged powerful in the Congress in recent times, and both JD(S) and Congress leaders accused him of wielding this power against the interest of party seniors.

Some want Congress leader Mallikarjuna Kharge, who played a key role in national politics, but lost a Lok Sabha seat this time, to lead the party at the state level and clip Siddaramaiah’s power.

On Tuesday, former Karnataka home minister Ramalinga Reddy hit out at the party leadership, including Siddaramaiah, accusing it of disregarding party seniors and encouraging ‘outsiders’. In December, about half a dozen councillors, loyalists of the seven-time MLA, threatened to quit and dent the chances of the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections if Reddy was not made a minister.

“The state leaders and supervisors stumbled on the party’s internal problems. Despite the party in power, Congress workers lost electoral passion. It is due to lack of communication and coordination between the workers and some Congress ministers,” Reddy said in a series of tweets.

A few days ago, party senior Roshan Baig, too, had expressed his discontent and called out the arrogant behaviour of Siddaramaiah.

‘Friends turned foe’

Even the JD(S), it’s coalition partner, seems to have a problem with Siddaramaiah — he is seen as a troublemaker instead of a peacemaker. The party president Adagur H Vishwanath resigned from his post alleging Siddaramaiah of causing more trouble for the coalition. “He kept the party president of both the Congress and JD(S) away from the coordination committee and the Lok Sabha result is an effect of that,” Vishwanath said.

Unlike Congress’ old guard, Siddaramaiah — who shifted from JD(S) in 2006 — is seen as an outsider. CM aspirants like Parameshwara and DK Shivakumar, and senior leaders like Kharge, Veerappa Moily and Shamanur Shivashankarappa resent him because they were kept at bay.

In 2017, former foreign affair minister SM Krishna quit the party citing lack of respect for seniors and a departure from core ideology in the party. Similarly, senior leader from the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, AB Malakareddy, quit the party for same reason. Both Krishna and Malakareddy joined the BJP later.

Malakareddy alleged that Siddaramaiah has no respect for the Congress party’s principles or its ideology and that he only focuses on promoting his cadres.

For Siddaramaiah, who split from JD(S) after a fierce battle with former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, the coming together with JD(S) was not easy. When Gowda became Prime Minister in 1996, he chose JH Patil as his successor instead of Siddaramaiah. Again, in 2004, when the JD(S) and Congress formed a coalition government, it brushed off Siddaramaiah. Gowda gave importance to his son and present chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, and that angered Siddaramaiah, who parted with JD(S) soon after.

Even after 15 years, his angst doesn’t seem to have died down. Despite joining hands with the JD(S) and the party agreeing to JD(S) leading the state, some leaders close to Siddaramaiah campaign for him be to be the chief minister again. In the midst of the Lok Sabha polls, a ‘Siddu for CM again’ campaign made the rounds. While it created problems for the Congress and its coalition partner, party leaders immediately doused the controversy and said everything was fine with the ruling government.

Last year, a video of Siddaramaiah, purportedly expressing doubts about the longevity of the coalition government, surfaced. It added strains to the coalition. Many felt Siddaramaiah did it intentionally to bring down the ruling government. Many seniors felt ignored and alleged that he uses his political rivalry against the Gowda family to cast a shadow on Kumaraswamy’s government.

Also read: Karnataka Congress may not recover quickly if old wounds don’t heal

In the past two Assembly elections, and for the Lok Sabha polls, the party high command, despite resistance from old guard, gave Siddaramaiah more powers and let him have a larger say in the candidate selection process. With a threat that he may break away if the party unseats him, the Congress kept him in the fold. And he established a strong grip over the party between 2013 and 2018 while he was the chief minister. The party fought the 2018 Assembly elections in his name.

But come 2019, from its Lok Sabha loss in Mysuru to Deve Gowda’s defeat in Tumakuru, the party pinned it all on Siddaramaiah, on a lack of coordination between the JD(S) and Congress. Congress leader C Motamma said that senior leaders like Kharge should guide the party in the right direction.

BJP adds fire to the flame

The opposition BJP in the state, which won 25 of the 28 lok Sabha seats, tried by all means to topple the ruling government before the Lok Sabha elections. But with its failed attempt, it changed the narrative after the LS elections and said the party would not do anything to harm the ruling government. Instead it said it will wait for the dissidence to grow with the coalition, which it thinks will bring down the government.

On June 5, at a party meeting, the BJP state leadership challenged Siddaramaiah to make dalit leader Kharge as the chief minister and see how it goes. In response, Siddaramaiah said no one denied them of the opportunity to become the chief minister, but the party high command chose him over others, and hence he continued.