Bengaluru: With Deputy Chief Minister, Dr G Parameshwar and other senior Congress leaders failing to pacify party MLAs upset at being denied Cabinet berths, the Congress high command is now relying on former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to quell the brewing revolt.
Going by sources close to Mr Siddaramaiah, he has been asked to put off his three-day visit to his Badami constituency in Bagalkot district, and rush back to Bengaluru to hold talks with the disgruntled MLAs led by former Ministers M B Patil, H K Patil and Satish Jarkiholi and he is expected to return to the city soon.
The high command is pinning its hopes on Mr Siddaramaiah as most of the disgruntled legislators like Mr Patil and Mr Jarkiholi are his loyalists and may take his advice. Although Mr Patil went to Mr Siddaramaiah’s house a day after the Cabinet expansion to pour out his grievances, the former Chief Minister gave him a patient hearing and left for Badami as he reportedly didn't want to get involved in the controversy surrounding the Cabinet expansion.
Some party insiders believe Dr Parameshwar and others should have swung into action as soon as they learnt about the disgruntled Congress MLAs holding meetings on Wednesday. Instead the Deputy Chief Minister issued press statements claiming “all is well” in the party. This naturally irritated the MLAs and by the time Dr Parameshwar entered the scene on Friday, the damage was done, according to them.
“During the five-year rule of Mr Siddaramaiah, none of the MLAs turned rebellious although the ministry was expanded several times. Giving a patient hearing to the disgruntled legislators could have solved at least 50 per cent of the problem," they said.
