Siddaramaiah's game plan: A berth for Horatti to keep Vishwanath out of Cabinet?

Bengaluru: Has the Congress camp owing allegiance to former chief minister Siddaramaiah launched a clever campaign to ‘deny’ the Legislative Council chairman’s post to senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader Basavaraj Horatti so that he can be inducted into the state cabinet?

Is this game also intended to ensure that another senior JD(S) leader A.H. Vishwanath, who has fired enough salvos at Siddaramaiah in the past, does not get into the state cabinet occupying the lone vacant slot the JD(S) has?

Horatti’s closeness to Siddaramaiah is quite well known which could be one reason why the former chief minister wants him in the state cabinet and not as Council chairman. Nor does Siddaramaiah want his one-time associate and former Congressman, Vishwanath to get into the cabinet at any cost as this might weaken his grip on Mysuru district, his home turf.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior leader in the Congress said, “The Siddaramaiah camp is pushing for S.R. Patil, seen as a pro-Siddaramaiah leader, for the chairman post. He was the one who ran the campaign in Badami on Siddaramaiah’s behalf during the Assembly elections. By getting Horatti into the cabinet and Patil chosen as Council chairman, the Siddu camp would be killing two birds with one stone,” the leader explained. The camp’s motive is to make sure that ‘nothing moves’ within the coalition government without Siddaramaiah’s consent. While concurring with this version, a source in the Janata Dal (Secular) on the condition of anonymity said, “The very idea behind launching this campaign appears to be to ensure that Horatti gets the lone ministerial berth vacant in the JD(S) quota. This will close the doors permanently for Mr Vishwanath. It looks like Siddaramaiah does not want Vishwanath to dominate Mysuru district’s politics again, particularly after the embarrassing defeat in Chamundeshwari.”