Though the Congress high command welcomed Prakash and his followers, it has not yet given serious thought to the condition laid down by Prakash: Tickets to contest the coming elections to all his followers (12 of them), sources said.
According to sources close to the development in the Congress, State Congress leaders have informed Prakash that it may not be possible to give any assurance on tickets to five of his followers -- Sharanabassappa Darshanapur (Shahapur), Narasimha Naik (Surapura), M Y Patil (Afzalpur), Suryanarayana Reddy (Kurugod) and B C Patil (Hirekerur). “For, the Congress already has strong candidates in these constituencies. If they are overlooked, they would rebel,” sources said.
Single party
Prakash after holding a meeting with his followers recently, had announced that all members of his camp will join a single party.
The Congress sources said Siddaramaiah during his meeting with the party supremo Sonia Gandhi in Delhi, mainly discussed about his loyals (who rebelled along with him against Deve Gowda) joining the party and got a green signal for it. And he did not advocate much on Prakash’s plans.
Concrete picture
Sources said that AICC Karnataka in-charge Prithviraj Chauhan is likely to hold a meeting with Prakash on January 28 in Bangalore. “A concrete picture may emerge after the meeting,” sources stated.
All the eight Siddaramaiah loyalists will join be inducted into the Congress in the presence of Chauhan on January 28 at Congress Bhavan on Queen’s Road in Bangalore, sources said.
Siddaramaiah, while speaking to reporters in Bangalore, said that he will hold a meeting with Prakash on January 22 to discuss issues related to the latter’s joining the Congress.
Asked about his meeting Sonia Gandhi, he said he only appraised her about the political situation in the State and discussed strategies for the coming elections.
Meanwhile, senior leaders of the Prakash camp, H S Mahadev Prasad and Amaregowda Bayyapur, met Siddaramaiah.
But they did not divulged any information about the meeting.
