BENGALURU: Karnataka is the only major state where the Congress—facing decimation almost everywhere else—is in power in South India. Hence, 10 Janpath threw its weight behind Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and gave the green signal to proceed against his political foe former minister and senior leader V Srinivas Prasad.
Prasad had resigned over his differences with the CM. The decision to accept his resignation lay with the Speaker of Legislative Assembly K B Koliwad Prasad, who put to rest speculations that the party was not confident that it will win in the by-poll, following the resignation. However, all eyes are on Siddaramaiah’s show of strength in the temple town of Nanjangud where two mega rallies will be held and over `100 crore development projects will be announced.
The 10 Janpath had advised former Karnataka Dalit leader and former Union minister Priyank Kharge to force Siddaramaiah’s hand on Prasad, who has earlier trained his guns on leaders such as Digvijay Singh on corruption charges. Koliwad announced his decision last week after consulting Advocate General Madhusudhan R Naik. “I had to get myself convinced, in accordance with article 190(3)(b) of the Constitution, that Prasad’s resignation was voluntary and was not under any pressure or influence. I have decided to accept his resignation after speaking to Prasad. I will not allow anyone to misuse the office of the Speaker and I have taken the decision in just three days,” Koliwad said, hitting back indirectly at JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy who had criticised the delay in accepting the resignation. Nobody, including the CM could influence the office of the Speaker. “I have never succumbed to pressure in my entire political life,” he added.
Prasad expressed happiness at the Speaker’s decision to accept his resignation, but decided to not divulge his next move. “I will decide on my future course of action after discussing it with my well wishers,” he said. He was dropped from the ministry on the basis of performance and health. That angered Prasad, who sees it as a pretext to induct Mallikarjuna Kharge’s son Priyank Khrage into Siddaramaiah ministry under the Dalit quota.
Meanwhile, the BJP and the JD(S) have intensified their efforts to get Prasad. Prasad, however, is weighing his options and is likely to contest the by-poll as an independent candidate with support from both the Opposition parties. He has vowed to inflict heavy political damage to CM Siddaramaiah, who dumped Prasad from the ministry four months ago and inducted Priyank Kharge under the Dalit quota.
Not unaware of the problem Prasad could pose with support from the united opposition, preparations are already on in the ruling Congress camp to face challenge. A convention of Congress workers has been organised on October 23 in Nanjangud.
Mysuru district in-charge minister H C Mahadevappa, himself a Dalit, has been given the responsibility to energise the party rank and file in the district. The CM is expected to announce a slew of developmental works for Nanjangud at the October 23 rally, which could effectively turn out to be the launch of Congress’s by-poll campaign. Prasad has considerable base among Dalits and could cause a dent in Siddaramaiah’s AHIDA base in Mysore and Chamarajanagar districts.