K’taka Cong veterans sing saffron tune

The rumblings in Karnataka Congress due to former Union minister SM Krishna’s exit and letters from two veteran leaders to PM Narendra Modi— one praising him and other endorsing RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s candidature for the President’s post—have left the party rattled.

With the BJP shifting its focus to Karnataka after victories in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and forming the governments in Goa and Manipur despite being in second place , Congress is facing the heat in Karnataka due to huge anti-incumbency and allegations of corruption against its government. The state goes to polls in March-April 2018.

Before the elections, chief minister Siddaramaiah faces an acid test in the two by-elections in Nanjangud and Gundlupet constituencies in the Mysore region on April 9.

BJP chief Amit Shah has already declared ‘Mission 150’ (150 out of the total 224 seats in the state assembly) for the 2018 polls. The pressure is now on Siddaramaiah to perform and retain power in Karnataka .

In a bid to keep the party leadership intact, the Congress has stepped up efforts to persuade former Union minister CK Jaffer Sharief and another veteran MV Rajasekharan to stay put. However, state Congress leaders say the “actions” by these veterans suggest they have lost relevance and are desperately trying to be in the news.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, 84-year-old Sharief had backed Bhagwat for the President’s post, saying there should not be any doubt about his patriotism, love for the people of India and loyalty to the nation despite belonging to “one school of thought”.

Similarly, 89-year-old Rajasekharan congratulated the Prime Minister for BJP’s success in the recent assembly elections and drew parallels between late prime minister Indira Gandhi’s ‘Garibi Hatao’ (abolish poverty) slogan and Modi’s welfare measures for the poor and the middle class.

However, Rajasekharan , who is the son-in-law of former Karnataka chief minister S Nijalingappa and a Congress Working Committee member clarified that he has no intention of leaving the party and joining the BJP. “I will always be in Congress,” he said.

Taking a dig at 84-year-old Krishna, who joined the BJP last month, Congress general secretary BK Hariprasad said, “Congress could not fulfil his (Krishna’s) dream of becoming the president, vice-president or the prime minister. It seems BJP has assured him of one of these posts.”