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'Cong lost as Siddaramaiah didn’t consult veterans'

Last Updated 10 December 2019, 17:26 IST

The Congress high command is said to have come to the view that the byelection setback to the party was mainly due to factionalism among senior leaders.

The leadership feels that it has become former chief minister Siddaramaiah versus others in the party.

A senior Congress functionary told DH that groupism was clearly visible with most senior leaders taking a backseat during the campaign, as it was virtually Siddaramaiah versus BJP, instead of Congress versus BJP. Had the party put up a united fight, it would have won six to eight seats, the leader said.

With Siddaramaiah resigning from both posts — as leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Assembly and leader of the Congress Legislature Party - and his loyalist Dinesh Gundu Rao quitting as KPCC president, the party is wondering whether to accept the resignations or not.

Since the entire campaign was led by Siddaramaiah, assisted by his loyalists like Rao and former ministers Ramesh Kumar and Krishna Byregowda, most of top leaders stayed away from the electioneering.

Though former ministers G Parameshwara and D K Shivakumar were seen in some places, it was just a token presence, another party leader said.

The problems cropped up after Siddaramaiah was able to get the party’s approval for the byelection candidates’ list as per his desire, despite strong opposition by some senior leaders.

Despite the opposition by some of the party’s veterans, the Congress top leadership made Siddaramaiah the LoP, considering that he had the highest popularity among the party workers.

The main grouse of old-timers against Siddaramaiah is that he is giving too much importance to leaders who came to the Congress from the erstwhile Janata Dal along with him.

While appointing him as the LoP, the party top brass did advise Siddaramaiah to take along all leaders. But the rift among the top leaders continued, said a leader.

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(Published 10 December 2019, 17:06 IST)

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