Bengaluru: After a nerve-wracking rebellion took the JD(S)-Congress coalition government to the brink, JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda seems to have realised that he has everything to gain by keeping the coalition's co-ordination committee chairman Siddaramaiah in good humour.
Result: Mr Gowda has instructed state JD(S) president A.H. Vishwanath not to press for his own inclusion in the co-ordination committee as Mr Siddaramaiah is opposed to it. There is no love lost between Mr Siddaramaiah and Mr Vishwanath after the Hunsur MLA ensured the defeat of the former CM in the Chamundeswari Assembly poll.
Sources said even the common minimum programme agreed upon by the two parties which could mean a rejig of welfares schemes implemented by the Siddaramaiah government, is now on the backburner.
What may have rattled Mr Gowda is the 'control' that Mr Siddaramaiah wields over 50-60 Congress legislators who are ready to take any decision in support of their leader.
With the JD(S)-Congress coalition government jolted several times during the five months it has been in power, former prime minister and Janata Dal (Secular) National President H.D. Deve Gowda seems to have decided not to raise any issue which would embarrass the coalition partner-Congress.
Sources said that Mr Gowda, in an attempt to ensure a smooth sailing for the coalition, has decided not to press for the inclusion of his state president and Hunsur JD(S) MLA A.H. Vishwanath in the all powerful coordination committee or insist on the implementation of the common minimum programme (CMP) agreed upon by the two parties at the time of forming the coalition government.
Mr Vishwanath had been batting for the inclusion of KPCC President Dinesh Gundurao and himself in the coordination panel but Mr Gowda wants to keep this issue on the backburner. This subject was not even allowed to be tabled in the party conclave let alone discuss it. It also shows how the father-son duo of Deve Gowda and H.D. Kumaraswamy are at the mercy of former CM and coordination committee chairman Siddaramaiah who can destabilise the government at any time.
The recent statement by Mr Kumaraswamy that Mr Siddaramaiah was the savior of his government and he would not allow anyone to topple it clearly indicated how Mr Gowda and Mr Kumaraswamy had compromised with Mr Siddaramaiah especially after the open rebellion by the Jarkiholi brothers. The rebellion was quelled by Mr Siddaramaiah which had sent a message to all his political opponents including Mr Deve Gowda that he was still a force to reckon with in state politics.
Sources close to Mr Vishwanath told Deccan Chronicle that Mr Deve Gowda has asked his state president not to make any statement against non-inclusion of the Congress and JD(S) state presidents in the coordination panel or the delay in the implementation of the CMP because of the lack of interest among Congress leaders.
Mr Gowda know s about the strained relationship between Mr Siddaramaiah and Mr Vishwanath in the last two years and more so after the former CM was defeated in his home district, Mysuru in the recent Assembly polls. Mr Siddaramaiah had indirectly made his intentions clear by not taking up the matter for discussion in the last three coordination committee meetings.
The CM also is playing safe and has stopped criticizing Congress leaders as he is at their mercy. Instead, he has started blaming the BJP for every adverse political development in the state.
What has maybe rattled Mr Gowda and Mr Kumaraswamy is the control Mr Siddaramaiah wields over 50-60 Congress legislators who are ready to take any decision in support of their leader. Files sent from Mr Siddaramaiah are being cleared without a murmer and all demands related to Badami assembly constituency represented by the former CM, are being met immediately proving that Mr Siddaramaiah remains as powerful as ever—though he may not longer be in the CM seat.
