Bellary: “Operation Hasta’ by energy minister, D.K. Shivakumar may help Congress candidate, N.Y. Gopalakrishna win the Bellary (ST) bypoll, but its believed it could create more divisions in the district unit of the Congress afterwards. Factionalism is already rife in the Bellary unit of the Congress with former KPCC chief, Allum Veerabhadrappa, former MLC, K.C. Kondaiah, former minister, Mundloor Diwakar Babu, Bellary City MLA, Anil Lad, Harapanahalli MLA, M.P. Ravindra and Bellary city-district Congress president, Anjaneyulu heading their own groups.
And the induction of former JD(S) MLA and granite baron, Nara Suryanarayana Reddy into the party recently under ‘Operation Hasta’, could create one more faction, it is feared. Mr Suryanarayana Reddy is still a force to reckon with in the 19 gram panchayats of Bellary (ST) assembly constituency which were earlier a part of the erstwhile Kurugodu assembly segment that he represented as a JD(S) legislator between 2004 and 2008.
His induction into the Congress is therefore likely to boost the winning prospects of Mr Gopalakrishna. Going by the vote share of the JD(S) in the 2008 and 2013 assembly elections, it is believed Mr Reddy could bring an additional 10,000 votes for the Congress candidate. And, should the Congress win the by-poll as a result, he could emerge as an influential leader in the party, note insiders. While Mr Reddy is said to have good relations with Mr Mundloor Diwakar, he is not believed to be on similar terms with Mr Kondaiah or Mr Veerabhadrappa, which could lead to more trouble post-election, say party sources.
