Seer visit sounds poll bugle

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By reaching out to influential religious pontiffs drawn from the state’s two dominant castes and lashing out at the corruption taint that has marred the BJP in the state at a party conclave later in the day, Congress President Sonia Gandhi set the ball rolling for next year’s assembly elections in Karnataka.

“People want a change from the corruption of the BJP in politics. And they want a change from the divisive communal politics of the BJP”, she told delegates of a Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee meeting here. An expression of hope on revival of the Congress’ prospects laced with plainspeak that senior leaders should put aside individual ambition and differences in the interest of the party marked Mrs Gandhi’s address to the state unit, here on Saturday.

Mrs Gandhi’s pep-talk came after she felicitated the 105 year-old seer of Siddaganga math, Shivakumar Swami, known as the “walking god”, followed by a successful tete-a-tete with him, Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji of the famed Suttur Math and the Vokkaliga seer, Balagangadharanath Swamiji of the powerful Adichunchunagiri math.

The math, frequented by Lingayat strongman and former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and his supporters, however, saw a complete no-show by BJP leaders on Saturday with the ‘Guruvandana’ event proving to be an embarrassing all-Congress event.

Adding salt to the wound, was the local BJP Member of Parliament, G.S. Basavaraj, who stunned his partymen by receiving Mrs Gandhi at the helipad and indicating his inclination to return to the Congress. Mrs Gandhi told her partymen, “Faced with a bleak future, the party managed to resurrect itself in 1978 after the successful victory of late Indira Gandhi in Chikmagalur by-election. The constituency is very dear to me. And this time, the party won a Lok Sabha by-poll. I hope this will herald the party’s revival.

Evidently disturbed by constant infighting in the state unit, she said “I want everyone including our leaders — UPA ministers from the state, KPCC president, Dr G. Parasmeshwar and leader of the opposition Siddaramaiah to work together and bring the party to power. An election cannot be won sitting in Delhi. The Congress party has grown from the sacrifices made by leaders in the past. I appeal to the leaders here to give paramount importance to the party’s interests,” she added.