Bengaluru: The first set of sops for rebel legislators are out as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah put in place a strategy to decrease their number and to contain the damage likely to be wrought to the party’s support base in their respective districts.
As part of this first strategy, Mr Siddaramaiah announced the appointment of two rebel legislators- Byrathy Basavaraj and S. T. Somashekhar – as members of the Board of Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA), a move which would help wean them away from around Dalit leader of Old Mysuru region and former revenue minister V. Srinivas Prasad as well as actor-politician M. H. Ambareesh. Their appointment has served another purpose that Mr Siddaramaiah plans to build his own coterie.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior leader disclosed that Mr Siddaramaiah told his senior cabinet colleagues on Friday that they should not waste their time and instead start touring their respective districts in order to contain the impact of dissident activity. "On one hand, ministers must play a catalytic role between the party and the government. Already, the government's performance is not up to the mark. Therefore, newly appointed ministers need to work hard," the leader explained.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters here, Mr Siddaramaiah dropped enough hints that he would leave no stone unturned to quell the rebellion within the party. "There is provision in existing laws to appoint two Board members for BDA and using this discretionary power, I have appointed them (Mr Somashekhar and Mr Byrathy Basavaraj)." he disclosed.
On the other hand, rebel leaders like former minister Qamarul Islam warned that Congress leaders need to clarify why he was dropped from ministry, and if they to give a proper explanation, then he wound not mind even from resigning from primary membership of the party. In Kalaburagi, a shut-down called by his supporters on Saturday to protest the decision to drop Mr Islam from the cabinet was peaceful except for an attempt at self-immolation by one of his supporters.
Later in the day, Mr Srinivas Prasad too reiterated his demand that the party should replace Mr Siddaramaiah with another leader.
The rebels—those who are upset about being axed during Sunday’s reshuffle and unsuccessful aspirants—are likely to meet here on Sunday to draw up their future plans including airing a demand for change of leadership.
