BENGALURU: Signs of the Congress warming up to the JDS were palpable when Maharashtra state in-charge general secretary Mallikarjun Kharge -- flush with the success of cobbling together an improbable coalition with the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party -- sounded optimistic that the party could join hands with the JDS to form the government once again, following the December 9 result.
Asked if he would be chief minister if such an alliance works out, he said it is for the leadership to decide. “Each time, people speculate that the candidate could be Mallikarjun Kharge, whether for the party president’s post or CM’s post, let us instead wait for the leadership to decide,” he said.
He said that AICC interim president Sonia Gandhi had initially said that the party would sit in the opposition, but had later changed her mind, considering the “overwhelming pressure from like-minded parties and the people to keep the fascist BJP away”, and agreed to form the government in Maharashtra with the two other parties.
“This is because the BJP did not respect the Constitution and was misusing it. We are doing this to preserve the Constitution, democracy, secularism and social justice,’’ Kharge added.
It may be recalled that after the 2018 assembly election, the Congress had, in a desperate bid to stop the BJP from taking the reins in Karnataka, formed a coalition with the JDS and agreed to HD Kumaraswamy as chief minister, though he was the leader of the smaller party with just 37 seats. The government had collapsed in July 2019.
Hinting at a possible tie-up, Kharge said the party would give the “good news” after December 9. Sounding optimistic about winning all 15 bypoll seats in Karnataka, he said that 70% of the turncoats in Maharashtra had been rejected.
Kharge spoke about the need to stop abuse of power, misuse of autonomous bodies, and the tendency to target opposition leaders in order to silence them or draw them to their side. Calling on the people to teach the BJP a lesson, he blamed the party for the slump in GDP growth and alleged that governance had collapsed.
Kharge slammed the BJP, saying the party had “used money and emotions to get votes in the name of religion, and had divided society”.
He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of giving Karnataka “stepmotherly treatment” with regard to flood relief and infrastructure projects, and asked if he was actually angry with CM BS Yediyurappa.
Former DyCM G Parameshwara echoed Kharge’s optimism that the Congress would form the government after bypolls.
Unity bug bites Congress leaders
In a late show of unity, Congress leaders now seem to be warming up to each other. Former CM Siddaramaiah, who was a lone ranger till now, is suddenly now joined by other party leaders. For instance, Maharashtra state-in-charge Mallikarjun Kharge, who was busy with elections in the neighbouring state till now, says he will start campaigning now. Former DyCM G Parameshwara has also gotten involved now. With just two days left before bypolls, party leaders are projecting a united front, which can be attributed to the post-Maharashtra polls high. Political analyst B S Murthy said, “It may not be a cakewalk for BJP. Barring 3-4 seats, Congress seems to be prepared to put up a to