Bengaluru: The Congress party may be relying heavily on the 'Ahinda' voters (minorities, backward classes and Dalits) in the coming Assembly polls, but it appears they are no longer as loyal to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as in the past, accusing him of building his own coterie and neglecting their welfare.
Even those Ahinda leaders, who stood by Mr Siddaramaiah after being unceremoniously removed from the Janata Dal (Secular), have reportedly distanced themselves from him, accusing him of neglecting them on becoming CM.
The Ahinda discontent reportedly became evident when Mr Satish Jarkiholi, a prominent ST leader and MLC, C M Ibrahim held a meeting with their leaders to scout for their support after Mr Siddaramaiah filed his nomination papers in Badami recently.
Going by sources, the leaders took the duo to task for neglecting them all these years and now coming to them for the support. They reportedly reminded Mr Jarkiholi that Mr Siddaramaiah had given him an insignificant portfolio and wanted to know why he didn’t seem keen on forwarding the Sadashiva Panel recommendations to the Union government.
"We supported Mr Siddaramaiah considering him a beacon of hope for the backward and oppressed classes. But, he proved to be a selfish leader,” said Mr Mukudappa, founder of the Ahinda movement and a one time close confidant of the CM.
Complaining that only Kurubas had been given top postions and others neglected, he said the party had also given tickets to several candidates from this community because Mr Siddaramaiah belonged to it.
Going by Mr Mahadeva Prakash, a political analyst, the Dalits are also angry with the Chief Minister for stopping senior leaders like M Mallikarjun Kharge and Dr G Parameshwar from laying claim to the CM's post.
