Bengaluru: Former chief minister Siddaramaiah reportedly assumed the role of a teacher and took a 'class' for Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar on the need to keep off the affairs of Belagavi district, that forced the Jarkiholi brothers to launch a revolt recently against the Congress leadership bringing the coalition government to the brink.
Mr Shivakumar, who went straight to 'Cauvery'—the official residence of Mr Siddaramaiah, after being treated for food poisoning at a private hospital on Friday, was taken to task for meddling in the Primary Land Development (PLD) Bank elections which had angered Municipal Administration Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi and Yamakanamaradi Congress MLA Satish Jarkiholi.
The Jarkiholi brothers had complained to Mr Siddaramaiah that Mr Shivakumar was pampering Belagavi Rural MLA and Karnataka Women Congress unit president Lakshmi Hebbalkar who, according to them, was trying to take control of the Congress in the district. Mr Siddaramaiah reportedly asked Mr Shivakumar if he would tolerate it if a leader from another district tried to poke his nose in the affairs of Ramanagara—his home district.
“You have the amibition of becoming CM...how can you achieve this if they project you as leader of only two districts? They (Jarkiholis) would not have come out in the open and rebelled had you not interfered in the PLD Bank polls,” he told Mr Shivakumar.
The coordination committee chairman also gave Mr Shivakumar a piece of friendly advice to be cool and not overact to any situation. The BJP would take advantage of the open rebellion of the Jarkiholi brothers to claim all is not well in the Congress. The Jarkiholi brothers’ rebellion had created a flutter in the state Congress and even the high command had to take note of it. “Let the Jarkiholi brothers take care of their district (Belagavi)...you keep away from it,” he added.
