Saving coalition: Berths for rebels, door for laggards

The Congress-JD(S) coalition could win only 2 of the 28 LS seats in Karnataka.

Update: 2019-05-26 20:09 GMT
Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah (Photo: File)

Bengaluru: Having suffered the worst ever drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls in the state, the ruling Congress party has reportedly decided to act tough by dropping ministers who failed in securing a lead for the party in their constituencies and replace them with rebel MLAs who have been jostling for Cabinet berths. The Congress-JD(S) coalition could win only 2 of the 28 LS seats in Karnataka.

Soon after rebel Congress legislators – Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak) and Dr K. Sudhakar  (Chikkaballapura) – met senior BJP leader S.M. Krishna on Sunday making many wonder if another Operation Lotus by the BJP was on the cards, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and  Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah met and discussed strategies to prevent BJP from using  the rebels to pull down the government.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior leader who was part of this meeting said, "It looks like the axe may fall on ministers like Krishna Byregowda, Priyank Kharge, Satish Jarkiholi, U.T. Khader, Jayamala, R.B. Thimmapur  and B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan in the Congress while in the JD(S), those likely to be shown the door are D.C. Tammanna, Sa. Ra. Mahesh and C. S. Puttaraju, who failed to ensure a good show for the coalition in the polls."

The source added that while Zameer has ensured a lead for the party in his constituency, he might be dropped for other reasons as his inclusion in the cabinet had ruffled many feathers. The source added that this list has not been finalised yet as similar charges (of poor performance) have been made against KPCC president  Dinesh Gundurao, working president Eshwar Khandre and Congress CLP leader Siddaramaiah. “With none of these leaders in the Cabinet, they may be able to safeguard themselves for now,” the source said. The Congress MLAs likely to be inducted are those who have defied the party and have shown enough signs of jumping ship and include R. Roshan Baig, Ramesh Jarkiholi, K Sudhakar and  B.C. Patil. The prospects of Srinivas Gowda from Kolar and Narayan Gowda from KR Pete, both from JD(S), also look bright as they have been in touch with BJP, the source explained.

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