At last Congress gets Battle ready in Karnataka, but will it be able to topple BJP? | A. Jayaram

Published on 29-09-2008 In General

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At last Congress gets Battle ready in Karnataka, but will it be able to topple BJP?

The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee has at last got a new President. True to the tradition of the Congress, the All India Congress Committee has nominated the veteran political leader R.V.Deshpande as the new President to succeed Mallikarjun Kharge.

Kharge had resigned as President after the defeat of the Party in the Assembly elections held in May. He was thus acting as a "Lame Duck" President to use the language of American politics.

In a way it is a case of the dark horse winning the race. After the former chief minister S.M.Krishna resigned as Governor of Maharashtra, it had been speculated that he would take over as the PCC President. However the most talked about name was that of the former deputy chief minister Siddaramaiah. The AICC itself had raised hopes in the minds of Siddaramaiah and his followers by inviting him to meet the Party High Command that is Sonia Gandhi. In the meantime, D.K.Shivakumar also canvassed his case to head the State unit. The former minister and Party veteran D.B.Chandre Gowda tried his luck again, though unsuccessfully.

Raghunath Vishwanath Rao Deshpande has been a frontranker in Karnataka politics- ever since his election to the State Assembly for the first time from Haliyal in Uttara Kannada District in 1983. He had won by a record margin that time. His political fortunes have turned a full circle. He was defeated in the recent elections from the same constituency. Deshpande has made up for that loss by winning the presidentship. He had been considered a staunch follower of Ramakrishna Hegde and they both are from the same district.

However his nomination as President has caused the expected bitterness in Siddaramaiah and his followers. They have felt cheated and there have been protests from Congress workers and leaders in Mysore District. A strong section in the State Congress had opposed his appointment on the ground that he was a comparative newcomer to the Party. It was widely known that the former chief minister Dharam Singh had been to Delhi to impress on the AICC leaders against selecting Siddaramaiah. The Dharam Singh-Mallikarjun Kharge camp in the State unit is stated to be the happiest over the choice of Deshpande. It had been feared that Siddaramaiah would not be able to carry all sections of the Party with him. He had come to be considered too much of a champion of the backward classes and that the upper castes would be unhappy with him. His association with the AHINDA platform, which he had joined even when he was the deputy chief minister (when the Congress-JD –S coalition was in power), went against him.

Moreover the Congress is now open to an alliance with the JD (S) and the latter is over

more than willing . Siddaramaiah had come to be considered a hindrance as his relations with the Deve Gowda clan continue to be strained. The speculation that he might join the BJP marred his chances to an extent.

On the other hand, R.V.Deshpande has over the years rediscovered his friendship with H.D.Deve Gowda and his sons. At one point, Deve Gowda and his sons were strongly opposed to him. Political observers recall the day in December 1994 when Deve Gowda was elected leader of the Janata Dal legislature party. Some of the JD (there was no JD-S at that time) leaders and workers had targeted Deshpande for attack along with Ramakrishna Hegde. Ugly incidents took place at the Vidhana Soudha . But that is history today. When two traditional political foes like D.

K.Shiva Kumar and the former chief minister H.D.Kumaraswamy can bury the hatchet and come together ,there is nothing surprising that Deshpande is now on friendly terms with the Gowda family.

Deshpande's friendly disposition towards all including those in other parties like the BJP has brought him the presidentship. His many friends at the AICC level and even in parties like the Nationalist Congress Party helped him. Moreover none of the Pradesh Congress chiefs so far had hailed from Uttara Kannada District.

There is no doubt bitterness in the Siddaramaiah camp. There is even the talk that he would leave the Party with his supporters and float a new organization. Undoubtedly he is the tallest political leader of the Kurubas and also of the backward classes.

Unlike Siddaramaiah, R.V.Deshpande who is a Brahmin lacks a caste backing. He will thus be forced to be secular and democratic if not socialistic, which he certainly is not. He is the second Brahmin to head the Party in recent years after the Late V.Krishna Rao. There is also the talk that Siddaramaiah would be appointed Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly replacing Mallikarjun Kharge .

Many factors weighed with the AICC in selecting Deshpande and appointing D.K.Shiva Kumar as the Working President. The Congress Constitution does not provide for a working president and Shiva Kumar, who is a Vokkaliga is the first to hold the post . The decision has been taken keeping in mind forming a new government to replace the BJP Government. It is also to usher in collective leadership. Shiva Kumar has declared that the Congress would launch the "Operation Hastha" to counter the BJP's "Operation Kamala" to win over Congress and JD (S) MLAs. Thus he has vowed to break the ranks of the BJP MLAs and bring about the collapse of the Yeddyurappa Government. The Congress has also in mind the next parliamentary elections when selecting the two. There is no doubt the desire for an electoral alliance with the JD (S) in the name of consolidating the anti-BJP votes. Both Deshpande and Shiva Kumar have come to be considered excellent Party managers. Besides being resourceful themselves, they have been close to business and industry circles. Deshpande was Industries minister continuously in the J.H.Patel and S.M.Krishna ministries. The Congress has felt the need to take on the challenge of the BJP's wealthy supporters and sees in Deshpande and Shiva Kumar the right persons.

The Congress has again placed trust in converts to its ranks from other parties rather than the old faithfuls who were in the party in the days of Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi if not earlier. Shivakumar had been elected to the State Assembly for the first time in 1989 as an independent . He was earlier in the Congress floated by Narayan Dutt Tiwari. It was S.Bangarappa who first appointed Shivakumar as a minister. He later became a steadfast follower of S.M.Krishna and is still considered close to him.

It is not enough Deshpande and Shiva Kumar have been placed in the saddle. It has been felt for long that the KPCC has to be overhauled and a new set of office-bearers elected or nominated. Kharge was never given a new team and he continued with those appointed when Janardhana Poojary was the president.

The Congress is now battle ready to oust the BJP from power or face the elections. Will the BJP oblige them at all or consolidate itself in power is the question.

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