Cong leaders clueless about SMK move

 None of the State Congress leaders have any clue about the next move of S M Krishna, who resigned as the External Affairs Minister, two days ahead of the Cabinet reshuffle.

His exit from the Union Cabinet, though did not come as a surprise to the party leaders in the State, were just left guessing as to what role he may play, either at the national or state-level.

There were speculations from last couple of months that Krishna may return to State politics. He may not be replacing his strong supporter G Parameshwara as the KPCC president. However, Krishna may be made chairperson of election committee or campaign committee, is the guess being made by many.

In no mood

AICC chief Sonia Gandhi is in no mood to remove Parameshwara as the president as Assembly elections are due early next year. Removing an SC leader from the key post may send a wrong signal to party workers and traditional vote banks of the party, it is said.

While associates of Krishna want to believe that he would play a crucial role in the coming elections, there are a good number of senior leaders who are not eagerly waiting for his return because it may further create unrest as there are already too many warring factions in the party.

Many leaders have openly questioned the leadership of Parameshwara. Shamnur Shivashankarappa and his supporters, who are demanding a pivotal role for the Lingayats in the party, are spearheading a campaign against Parameshwara.
Even Siddaramaiah, who is nurturing an ambition to become the chief minister, is not in the inner circles of Krishna.

Krishna, on many occasions, had stated that he has no plans to come back to Karnataka politics. His detractors say that in the Assembly elections, the party could win just 65 seats, despite Krishna playing a lead role. An 80-year-old Krishna may find it tough to play an active role in electioneering  is the argument put forth by his detractors.

Sources in the party also said that Krishna, to avoid being asked to step down to make way for new faces in the Cabinet, had voluntarily resigned. The Delhi leaders would now try to make best use of him in the State, where the party is facing a plethora of problems due to ego clashes among senior leaders.

His probable return to State politics is coinciding with the Lokayukta court case against him pertaining to the NICE project.