Karnataka ex-CM brokers peace with angry Mandya Congress men over bypoll

Bengaluru: Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah appears to have succeeded in brokering peace among Congress leaders unhappy over their party's decision to hand over its stronghold of Mandya to the JD(S), its coalition partner in the government, for the parliamentary bypoll next week.

Mr Siddaramaiah, who arrived in Mandya on Wednesday to kick off the campaign for JD(S) candidate, L.R. Shivaramegowda, held a closed door meeting with the local Congress leaders and explained to them that the party was only following the orders of the high command, according to sources.

He is said to have told them that this was an extraordinary situation as Congress president, Rahul Gandhi had played a vital role in stitching an unconditional alliance with the JD(S) to keep the BJP from coming to power in the state and the arrangment was likely to continue for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

When most Congress leaders present complained that it would be difficult for them to convince their party workers to campaign for the JD(S) as they had been bitter rivals with in the past, Mr Siddaramaiah agreed, but nevertheless requested them to work for Mr Shivaramegowda, sources revealed.

But despite Mr Siddaramaiah’s intervention, it remains unclear whether the Congress party workers will campaign for the JD(S) in the run-up to the bypoll. “We may ask them to work, but can't force them as they have no reason to rejoice over the victory of a rival party candidate. If Mr Shivaramegowda wins how will it benefit the Congress? In a way we are handing over this seat in a silver platter to the JD(S),” lamented one leader, blaming the situation on the sidelining of filmstar-turned- politician, Ambarish, who once had absolute control over the district.