Hyderabad-Karnataka Congressmen: Bring Mallikarjun Kharge back to Karnataka
Bengaluru: Demand to bring veteran Congress leader M Mallikarjun Kharge into state politics is growing in Hyderabad-Karnataka and Mumbai-Karnataka in wake of unprecedented decable of party in recently-concluded Lok Sabha polls.
The rank and file of the party was in the state of shock after it managed to win just one seat out of the total 28 seats in Karnataka with senior leaders like Mr Kharge, Mr M Veerappa Moily and Mr K H Muniyappa biting the dust. The victory of BJP in 25 seats, that too in the strong fortress of Congress, had given a scope for reinventing the party roots if it has to prove its existence in the State. The defeat of Congress in Hyderabad-Karnataka, Mumbai-Karntaka,Coastal Karnataka, Central Karnataka and South Karnataka has forced the Congress legislators to look out for a leader who could make the party to bounce back in the coming days. “Time is ripe for bringing Mr Kharge into state politics for the revival of Congress. It is the wish of every legislator that the party high command gives a suitable post for him to bring back the party to track. We will convince Mr Kharge to involve himself in strengthening of Congress in the state,” opined a senior Congress MLA of H-K region.
According to him, the severe drubbing of Congress in Lok Sabha polls had given an opportunity for leaders to ponder what really went wrong in recent polls. It was a matter of concern that traditional votes of Congress were slowly shifting towards the BJP and people were slowly going towards the lotus party due to their failure to work to their expectations. The state leaders should have awakened after it won just 78 seats in 2018 Assembly elections despite ruling the state for full five years under the leadership of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. This had forced the party to extend support to Janata Dal (Secular) which had secured just 37 seats and also offered the CM post to it. Instead of giving a good governance leaders of both parties indulged in shadow boxing and issuance of statements against each other. Their fighting in public platform irked the people who waited for an opportunity to teach both parties a lesson. After the announcement of Lok Sabha elections, the coalition partners decided to fight the polls together much against the wish and will of workers at the grassroots level. This also paved way for the exodus of many leaders to BJP only to defeat Congress in the parliamentary polls. Though, senior leaders like Mr Kharge hinted against pre-poll alliance with the JD(S) in LS polls, none of them took it seriously. They understood the consequences of joining hands with the regional party only after the LS results. The Congress, had it contested alone, would have definitely won at least 8-10 seats, he opined.
The MLA said the only savior in this hour of crisis was Mr Kharge, a seasoned politician with an experience of five decades and a committed soldier of Congress. The party had won over 130 seats under his leadership thanks since he was accessible to workers and ready to work hard for the sake of party. Since he has lost in LS polls, it was the right time to bring him to state politics and offer him a suitable post to revive the party in Karnataka. The current KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao was still young and he need to understand nauces of managing the party across the party. Whereas, Mr Kharge had been in state politics since 1972 and knew well the ways to re-invent the party and make it ready for the next election. "All Congress legislators of H-K and M-K region will soon meet Mr Kharge and convince him to come back to state politics in the interest of party,” he added.
