Date:10/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/10/stories/2008031055111200.htm

National

Karnataka Congress heading for crisis?

S. Rajendran

With Assembly elections round the corner, the party is divided on communal lines

High command has summoned party presidents

Differences over Krishna’s return to State politics

BANGALORE: The Karnataka unit of the Congress party is heading for a major crisis with there being more than one power centre at a time when Assembly elections are round the corner — they are expected in mid-May.

Sources in the party told The Hindu that the division was on communal lines with one community seeking an edge over the others in managing the party affairs. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president M. Mallikarjuna Kharge is a Dalit.

Several leaders have left for New Delhi for discussions with the central leaders, including party general secretary who is in charge of Karnataka and Union Minister Prithviraj Chavan. Mr. Kharge is also leaving for Delhi on Monday for a lengthy sitting with party leaders on election-related matters. Reports have it that the former Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, would also be in New Delhi around the same time.

The Congress high command has summoned all the State presidents for a meeting to disseminate the salient features of the Union Budget in their States. Mr. Kharge is expected to draw the attention of the party high command to all matters relating to maintaining the homogeneity of the State Congress.

There are three major groups in the State Congress — the pro-Krishna group (largely Vokkaligas), the old Congressmen (Mallikarjuna Kharge, C.K. Jaffer Sharief, M. Veerappa Moily, N. Dharam Singh and others) and the Siddaramaiah group (comprising ex-Janata Dal members). Party sources indicated that if left unchecked, the recent entry of the former Deputy Chief Minister, M.P. Prakash, will possibly lead to the formation of another communal group.

It is common knowledge that the Vokkaligas and the Lingayats constitute the two dominant communities in the State. The others, apart from the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes and the backward classes, are also in strength in certain pockets. What has, however, led to the division in the Congress is the imminent return of Mr. Krishna to State politics and certain sections backing his return. Mr. Krishna is slated to be appointed chairman of the State Congress Election Management Committee.

The differences have surfaced over the status to be given to Mr. Krishna. While reports have it that the chairman of the election management committee will enjoy the rank of general secretary of the All-India Congress Committee and consequently such a position will be above that of the KPCC president, the party rank and file is upset over the move. They want the KPCC president to be at the helm of affairs. “Let Mr. Kharge enjoy a similar status which Mr. Krishna enjoyed during the run-up to the 2004 Assembly elections.” Senior Congress leaders of the State, however, want Mr. Krishna to give the requisite impetus and be in the forefront of the election campaign.

Mr. Chavan will be in Bangalore on March 15 and 16 to participate in a Janandolana programme in Mysore district on March 16. Mr. Krishna, who will be arriving in Bangalore after a road show from Belgaum, will be the key speaker at the Mysore programme of the party.