MYSURU: Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has turned into everyone’s favourite punching bag. He has come under attack from his own party leaders and also the coalition partner JDS. On Tuesday, senior Congress leaders R Roshan Baig and Ramalinga Reddy sniped at Siddu and directly blamed him for the crisis, while JDS state president Vishwanath accused him of failing in his duty as coordination panel head.
Baig is upset as he was denied ticket to contest Lok Sabha polls, while Reddy says he was not taken into confidence during the elections. Baig is also livid with Siddramaiah for promoting Zameer Ahmad Khan, a rank junior and a new entrant to Congress and for promoting young face Rizwan Arshad who originally hails from Mysore. The Congress is into fresh trouble as the knives are out against Siddaramaiah from seniors within the party. Siddaramaiah allegedly failed to silence his supporters, who projected him as the next Chief Minister, and also to take disgruntled Congress leaders into confidence. He has also been blamed for lack of proper coordination during the Lok Sabha polls.
Siddaramaiah had faced a similar situation in Janata Dal in 2006, with seniors ganging up against his leadership. Further mudslinging by senior leaders may provide BJP an ammo to attack him and the Congress over internal squabbling.
Political commentator Harish Ramaswamy said lack of internal democracy in Congress at both the national and state level has made many to speak through media and social media. While, majority are upset because the party high command did not take them on board over partnering with JDS. “Congress leaders should stop blaming each other and sit together to figure out where they went wrong during the parliamentary polls,” he added.