Mangaluru: Former KPCC president, B Janardhan Poojary, who has been of late vocal in criticising Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the state government, seems to have annoyed a section of Congressmen in Dakshina Kannada, who are now reportedly baying for his blood.
Former president of the Puttur block Congress, Hemanath Shetty came down hard on Mr Poojary for acting like the opposition recently and also met Mr Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on Wednesday, leading to speculation that the latter may have given his blessings for an anti-Poojary campaign.
“Hemanath met the Chief Minister at his home office, Krishna. It is impossible to meet him there without the support of someone high up in the party,” said Mr Kallige Tharanath Shetty, a close aide of Mr Poojary, at a press conference on Thursday, also noting that a local newspaper had reported that besides Mr Shetty, those who met the Chief Minister included minister Ramanath Rai, MLC, Ivan D’Soza and Mangaluru Mayor, Harinath.
“I saw the report but I don’t know if Rai, Harinath and Ivan are with Shetty. But if anyone is with Hemanath, let them come out openly and give a statement,” he declared.
Meanwhile, former MLA, Vijay Kumar Shetty claimed senior Congress leader, Veerappa Moily and a few other leaders were backing Mr Hemanath Shetty in taking on Mr Poojary. The infighting has caused concern among some Congress leaders , who believe could damage the party's prospects in the state.
“Instead of getting a local leader to speak out against Poojary, they could have asked some AICC leader to intervene in the matter. After all, Poojary is a senior leader and has a standing in national politics,” said one concerned leader, adding, “Poojary may have lost several elections, but he has a good support base. Making these partymen unhappy could cost the Congress.”
