Karnataka: Too many heavyweights, coast has no second rung

Mangaluru: Is the Congress party in an unenviable situation in the state’s coast because its affairs are run by a handful of leaders? The answer is yes according to some senior Congress leaders who are unhappy with the party for not trying to project new leaders.

“The party leadership is in the clutches of a few leaders. The same leaders contest elections several times and also hold party posts. For example Janardhan Poojary is contesting the parliament election from Mangaluru since 1977 (except 1999 and 2004.) He won four elections and lost five. Even when he was defeated, he enjoyed the post of Rajya Sabha member and KPCC president.

Meanwhile in the same period, BJP had three MPs - Dhananjay Kumar, D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Nalin Kumar Kateel. The BJP changes even sitting MPs and gives tickets to new faces. But the Congress continues to field the same candidate” a senior Congress leader rued while speaking to Deccan Chronicle.

“Similar is the case at Bantwal where Ramanath Rai has been contesting since 1985. Mr U.T. Khader who succeeded his father too will continue contesting from his seat. If this is the situation, how can the party grow?

“The situation is no different in blocks and taluks where the party is controlled by a few leaders who continue to hold the posts for years” he lamented. “Despite being a MLA, Ramanath Rai continues to be DCC president in Dakshina Kannada district and Byndoor MLA Gopal Bhandary is Udupi DCC chief.

They are scared to hand over the baton to young leaders fearing they would be sidelined,” he said and added that new faces like MLC Ivan D’Souza, MLAs J.R. Lobo and Moideen Bava cannot be considered genuine Congress leaders.

“They earned a name in other fields and were inducted into the Congress. They have no Congress background. There is no effort by the party to nurture homegrown leaders. The MLAs who have won several times should be given party tasks and new faces be allowed to contest elections. There is no second rung leadership in the party. This will surely affect the Congress in the future as there will be no one to lead the party after the present line of leaders fade away. The BJP is sure to exploit this situation,” he added.