Karna PCC chief 2nd term unlikely
Karnataka PCC chief R.V. Deshpande is unlikely to get a second term while the performance of CLP leader Siddaramaiah has not impressed the central leaders of the Congress.
According to well-placed sources in the Congress, Mr Deshpande will be replaced during the current organisational elections.
Though they are tightlipped about his successor, the names of Dr Parmeshwar and Mr H.K. Patil are doing the rounds. Dr Parmeshwar is a dalit while Mr Patil a Vokkaliga. Mr Veeranna Mathikatti is also said to an aspirant.
As for Mr Siddaramaiah, party insiders observed that he has not been effective as a leader on the floor. The OBC leader, who got inducted into the party after rebelling against former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, was the former deputy chief minister.
However, his induction had neither checked the Janata Dal (S) nor made the Congress stronger.
Besides, his performance in the legislature and outside has not been able to make any impact, felt a section of the Karnataka Congress.
Karnataka was once a strong state of the Congress even after the two splits that took place in 1969 and 1978.
It had not only remained with the Congress in the 1977 anti-Indira wave in the north and east, but even after that because of the leadership of Devraj Urs an others.
The Janata Parivar (Janata Party, the Janata Dal and now the JD-S) had ruled the state for over 10 years under the chief ministership of Ramkrishna Hegde, S.R. Bommai, H.D. Deve Gowda and J.H. Patel.
The BJP got the political space in the state only after Mr Deve Gowda’s son, Mr H.D. Kumaraswamy, had aligned with it and formed the government in 2006.
Now, the Karnataka Congress is run by former Janata Parivar leaders: Mr R.V. Deshpande and Mr Siddaramaiah.
How will they re-enthuse the Congress after fighting against it for many years, ask insiders, while blaming the central leaders for imposing such leaders in the name of consensus.
The Congress Party must play the Opposition role effectively and strengthen its support base among OBC, minorities and weaker sections, they said.
The Karnataka BJP government is not in a good shape following Santosh Hegde’s resignation. He quit because the state government’s non-cooperation in his crusade against corruption.
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