BENGALURU: Siddaramaiah’s role as coordination committee chief may have come under fire in the past 14 months, but the collapse of the coalition government is likely to propel him back into “active” politics as Leader of the Opposition. It is also expected to allow him to gain full control over the state unit of the party, which now lacks a clear chain of command.
In 2018, Siddaramaiah was among the senior leaders who had strongly opposed the party’s decision to form an alliance with the regional party. Though he toed the party line, after the worst-ever defeat in the Lok Sabha polls in the state, he came out in the open, saying “enough is enough”.
The collapse of the government is also a great loss for Siddaramaiah, as he had managed to ensure that many of his supporters were made ministers in the coalition government. On the other hand, as many rebel MLAs were considered to be his camp followers, he had the tough task of convincing the party high command that he has no role in the political crisis that pulled down the government.
Siddaramaiah also faces the tough challenge of reclaiming his place as “undisputed” Ahinda leader as many of the communities deserted the Congress to support the BJP in the LS polls.
Ruling out induction of the rebel Congress MLAs into the party, he said, “I would like to reaffirm that those who have fallen for Operation Kamala will never be inducted back into our party.” He said the rebels cannot be ministers or hold any position in the new government as they will be disqualified for anti-party activities.