Bengaluru: Will Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh, battling a wave of complaints from within the party for failing to muster the numbers to form a new government in Goa, be able to script a success formula for the party ahead of next year’s elections to the Legislative Assembly in Karnataka?
Amid speculation in the ruling party that former Union minister K V Thomas could replace Mr Singh as general secretary in-charge of Karnataka, post the fiasco in Goa, his colleagues are debating whether he will be able to shore up the numbers in the event of a fractured verdict in the state next year. Mr Singh’s style of functioning has been criticized by former minister A H Vishwanath and others while second-rung leaders and party workers have lamented the fact that he has been inaccessible to them and has not toured the districts to get acquainted with local leaders and make efforts for the party to return to power. For most of them, the style and strategy of Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was in-charge of the state when the party was piloted to power by S M Krishna, M Mallikarjun Kharge and others in 1999, remains the benchmark.
Some of these leaders pointed out to Deccan Chronicle how Mr Azad toured the districts, and allotted adequate time for party workers and local leaders.
“If an AICC general secretary is up-to-date with the political scenario in every district, it will come in handy for our central leaders while distributing tickets and to ensure an easy victory,” remarked one leader.
In addition to his tours and interaction with local leaders, Mr Azad had established a good rapport with Janata Dal (Secular) patriarch H.D. Deve Gowda, which helped the party knit together a coalition when polls held in 2004 threw up a hung Assembly with the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as the single largest party with 79 seats, while the Congress finished second with 65 seats, followed by JD (S) at 58 seats.
The Congress-JD (S) coalition was headed by Mr Dharam Singh and Mr Siddaramaiah, then heading the state unit of JD(S), taking over as deputy chief minister. Therefore, Mr Singh ought to keep the line of communication with leaders like Mr Deve Gowda in order to stop the BJP from returning to power in Karnataka, added the leader.
