Date:19/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/19/stories/2008111955280500.htm

Karnataka

Congress leadership in a spot over infighting in Chickballapur unit

Special Correspondent

Chikkanarasimhaiah refuses to step down as ZP chief as per power sharing formula

CHICKBALLAPUR: The reluctance of Chickballapur zilla panchayat president M.B. Chikkanarasimhaiah to step down from his post as instructed by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president D.K. Shivakumar is a setback to the Congress leadership which is making efforts to check the growing infighting in the party’s Chickballapur and Kolar district units.

After Kolar district was bifurcated and Chickballapur district was created on September 24, 2007, a zilla panchayat was formed for Chickballapur. The Congress is in majority in the ZP. As various groups in the Kolar and Chickballapur district units of the Congress tried to have their members as ZP president and vice-president, the party leadership reportedly formulated a power-sharing formula.

According to it, Mr. Chikkanarasimhaiah of Bagepalli taluk, a loyalist of R.L. Jallapa, Chickballapur MP, was elected president on a condition that he would step down after 10 months in favour of Gude Sreenivasa of Chintamani taluk, a follower of M.C. Sudhakar, Chintamani MLA. As Mr. Chikkanarasimhaiah did not step down even after 14 months, Dr. Sudhakar and his supporters grew restless and this resulted in severe infighting in the party. Similar problems cropped even in the Kolar ZP. To put an end to infighting that had taken an ugly turn with leaders of warring groups publicly criticising each other, Mr. Shivakumar recently instructed the presidents and vice-presidents of Kolar and Chickballapur ZPs to step down, sources in the Congress told The Hindu.

The sources said while Kolar ZP president Nagarathnamma and her deputy reportedly put in their papers, Mr. Chikkanarasimhaiah, who had the support of Union Minister K.H. Muniyappa, was reluctant to step down. Mr. Chikkanarasimhaiah was of the view that the ZP members from the Congress, except those from Chintamani taluk, were in favour of him, and thus, there was no need for him to resign, sources said. This development has not only aggravated the problems in the district units of the Congress, but also put the party leadership in a spot. The sources said the situation would go from bad to worse if action was taken against Mr. Chikkanarasimhaiah. If he was allowed to continue, the leadership would earn the wrath of the group opposed to Mr. Chikkanarasimhaiah.