Bengaluru: The Congress party seems to be taking a conciliatory approach to dealing with rebel party MLA, Ramesh Jarkiholi who is threatening to quit the party with a few other legislators, and threatening its survival.
Instead of talking about taking action against him, the party is working hard to retain him at any cost to prevent any threat to the coalition government in the state. A day after a fuming Mr Jarkiholi rushed to Bengaluru to speak with his supporters on resigning from the party in a group, Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwar and Energy Minister, D K Shivakumar downplayed the entire affair to stop it from escalating.
While Dr Parameshwar called the rebellion a “family feud,” Mr Shivakumar went a step ahead saying Mr Jarkiholi was like his brother and he could beat him if he wanted to. The duo told reporters after meeting Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy at his JP Nagar residence, that the Gokak MLA would not resign to join the BJP as the Congress had given him everything and was ready to solve any issues he may have with it.
At the closed-door meeting with Dr Parameshwar and Mr Shivakumar, the Chief Minister, is however, believed to have discussed the government’s course of action should Mr Jarkiholi manage to gain the support of other disgruntled Congress legislators Both Dr Parameshwar and Mr Shivakumar reportedly promised to not only convince the angry MLA, but also the unhappy legislators expected to join him..
While Mr Kumaraswamy himself met Kagawada Congress MLA, Srimanth Patil, believed to be close to Mr Jarkiholi, a few of the other MLAs have reportedly switched off their mobile phones since Wednesday evening, giving room for suspicion that they could pull the plug on the government. Sensing trouble, Mr Shivakumar is doing his best to trace the legislators and hold talks with them, say sources.
The party’s last recourse could be asking former Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah to speak to Mr Jarkiholi as he has great respect for him, they reveal.
