Cong awaits Siddaramaiah to douse rebellion fire

Congress leaders are eagerly waiting for the return of Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah in the hope that he may be able to find a solution to the political imbroglio involving the Jarkiholi brothers.

While Siddaramaiah is expected to return to the city from his 10-day Europe holiday on Sunday morning, AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, K C Venugopal arrived in the city Saturday evening itself.

The Jarkiholi brothers - Municipalities Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi and former minister Satish Jarkiholi - have threatened to raise the banner of revolt due to their feud with party MLA Laxmi Hebbalkar and Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar. The party is on tenterhooks amid fear that the BJP has been in touch with Ramesh and Satish. The brothers, however, have repeatedly stated “everything will be resolved once Siddaramaiah returns on September 16.”

The Jarkiholi brothers have placed at least five demands before the party - No leader, including Shivakumar, should interfere in Belagavi politics; make Satish either KPCC president or deputy chief minister; Cabinet berths and boards/corporations appointments for their loyalists; reorganise the Belagavi party unit and transfer of officials in the district.

Shivakumar has flatly denied having interfered in Belagavi affairs. Laxmi, however, has accused the brothers of “troubling” and “targetting” her in her constituency.

The party top brass, too, expects Siddaramaiah to settle the issue since Ramesh and Satish are his close associates. While a section of leaders suspects Siddaramaiah’s covert support to the Jarhikholis’ dissidence, they argue that it was also his responsibility to ensure the Congress-JD(S) coalition was stable by virtue of him being the chairperson of Coalition Coordination and Monitoring Committee.

Venugopal and Siddaramaiah are also expected to take stock of the upcoming bypolls to the three vacant Legislative Council seats and the Bengaluru Mayoral polls.

Nominations to the Legislative Council were discussed in the last Coordination Committee meeting held on August 31, before Siddaramaiah left for Europe.

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