Sonia steps in as crisis worsens

With the crisis in JD(S)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka deepening, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi has stepped in to work out a strategy for salvaging the government.

Rahul Gandhi, who resigned as Congress president is away in Amethi and hence Sonia had been holding meetings with senior leaders to discuss the options to ward off the imminent threat to the one-year coalition government in midst of turmoil in the state unit.

Sonia, who cancelled her visit to the US for a routine health check up after the crisis in Karnataka, is learnt to have been giving directions to the state leaders for the last few days. She has also been taking information from senior Congress leader Gulam Nabi Azad and B K Hariprasad who rushed to Bengaluru on Tuesday as troubleshooters.

"The problems in the Karnataka government are purely on local issues and the need to be addressed at the local level, Sonia deputed Gulam Nabi Azad, who had earlier served as in-charge general secretary for Karnatka and is well-aware of the dynamics of state politics," a senior Congress leader told DH.

Several state leaders also urged Sonia to intervene as the crisis is deepening.

Earlier Sonia Gandhi, who is also Congress Parliamentary Party chief, had urged the party MPs to raise the issue in both the Houses of Parliament.

There is also a view in the party that the Congress itself deliberately allowed to grow the problems this big. When Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had earlier suggested the Congress leaders to go for entire reshuffle by dropping loyal senior leaders and accommodate rebels, some senior leaders opposed this and asked him to accommodate only Independent MLAs.

"Had we allowed Kumaraswamy to go for the total reshuffle, the current crisis would be have avoided," a senior Congress leader said.