Multiple 'power centres' causing bickering in Congress, says Karnataka CM's aide

Bengaluru: Amid rumblings in the ruling Congress, Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna on Thursday said the party now has multiple ‘power centres’ causing bickering and admitted that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was not the same one that people saw during his first term.

This is being seen as a defence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's position amid buzz that he does not have a free hand to run the administration.

Between 2013 and 2018, Siddaramaiah was the only power centre, Rajanna said. "All decisions happened with consensus. Now, (D K Shivakumar) is one power centre. There’s another power centre in Delhi, which wants to take us on the right path,” he said.

“More power centres means more bickering,” Rajanna, a close aide of Siddaramaiah, said. “So, the CM will have to run the show accordingly. It's true that the overall opinion is that it's not the same Siddaramaiah now.”

Rajanna rejected the notion that no development was taking place. "In a month, the CM visits various districts for 15-20 days to lay the foundation stone for development works. Will this happen if there are no funds?" he said. "It is possible that there aren't enough funds being provided to match MLAs' expectations. There's financial burden on the government due to the 'guarantee' schemes," Rajanna conceded.

During the day, Siddaramaiah met Sagar MLA Belur Gopalakrishna and advised him to exercise caution while making public statements. Earlier this week, the MLA had asked Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan to resign in the wake of corruption allegations in his department.

Political changes after Sept?

Rajanna claimed that 'revolutionary' political developments would take place after September in the state's politics. Rajanna did not elaborate, leading to speculation over the possibility of the state getting a new chief minister, Congress seeing a new party president or a major Cabinet reshuffle. "You can guess whatever you want," he said. He also maintained that he was ready to replace D K Shivakumar as the KPCC president. Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi, too, said there could be "some changes" later this year.

CM hasn't lost grip, says DKS

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has not lost his grip over administration, his deputy and Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar said on Thursday. "He hasn't lost control. There's nothing like that. Media is blowing this up," he said. Meanwhile, AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, who is in charge of the party's affairs in Karnataka, is expected to visit the state next week to review disgruntlement among lawmakers.