K N Rajanna slams Shivakumar, asks him not to misuse top brass' name

The state Congress chief, Shivakumar who has made no secret of his ambition to become the CM, chose not to respond to Rajanna's comments.

Bengaluru: Infighting in the ruling Congress intensified on Monday with Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna asking Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar to stop “misusing” the name of the party’s high command.

Rajanna said this a day after Shivakumar asked his colleagues to stop “misusing” the chief minister’s name. 

“I also agree that the name of the chief minister must not be misused, but it applies to those who are misusing. Did I build houses in Dollars Colony, Sadashivanagar and Tumakuru misusing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s name,” the minister said while speaking to reporters here, in an indirect reference to Shivakumar.

Continuing his tirade against the deputy chief minister, the Cooperation Minister said: “Rather, we should tell him not to misuse the name of the AICC and the party high command. Will the AICC speak about everything? If he takes some issue to them, they may issue some directives. We follow those directives, that’s a different matter. In politics, people misuse it to their advantage.”

In a veiled attack on Siddaramaiah’s close confidants, who are mounting pressure on the party leadership on the change of guard in the Karnataka Congress, Shivakumar on Sunday had said, “Do not misuse Siddaramaiah’s name. He is our leader and the party needs him for all the elections, including the panchayat elections. He is doing a good job in his second stint as the chief minister and don’t drag him...” 

The battle for one-upmanship in the Congress between Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar has picked up since last week when leaders of both camps went to Delhi and spoke to the high command.  

A close confidant of Siddaramaiah and a bitter critic of Shivakumar, Rajanna has been at the forefront of a campaign to change Shivakumar as the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president on the grounds that the party follow the ‘one person one post’ norm.

Rajanna was visibly irked when asked about KPCC working president G C Chandrashekhar’s Mahabharata analogy, comparing the Congress high command to Lord Krishna and some ministers to Shishupala.

“People like him become Rajya Sabha member twice. The MPs should have the ability to fetch votes to the party. What’s his contribution? In corporation elections, he managed to get only 258 votes. He’s a burden on the party. What to do? This is the misfortune of the Congress.”