BENGALURU: Senior Congress leader BK Hariprasad, who was a strong contender for a ministerial berth, on Saturday expressed his displeasure at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah by indirectly stating that he knows how to make a leader CM and also to dislodge him from that position.
Hariprasad was speaking at a conference of the Ediga community to which he belongs, in the city. “I played a big role in deciding who should be the chief ministers of states ruled by Congress. I am well-versed in resolving leadership issues,” he said.
The senior leader’s statement indicates that factionalism prevails in Congress though it returned to power in the state with absolute majority. Hariprasad is close to Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
Hariprasad seems to be playing the caste card now as he feels sidelined by the party leadership, according to a source.
Quick to react, state BJP general secretary CN Ashwath Narayan said that Hariprasad’s statement will be a turning point in state politics. “There is truth in it as it has come from a senior leader who has been in national politics for long,” he added.
Hariprasad too played a big role in Cong poll victory: Seer
Ashwath Nayaran said issues concerning Edigas have not been addressed in the budget. Congress is doing vote bank politics by giving crores of rupees as grants to a single category. Congress leaders remember AHINDA when they are not in power. When they come to power, they ignore AHINDA, he added. The statement of the 68-year-old Congress loyalist, who never switched sides in his 49-year political career, has been taken seriously by members of the Ediga community, especially by its religious head Pranavanda Swamiji.
“Hariprasad too played a big role in Congress coming to power in the state. As Leader of Opposition (in the Council) he should have been a natural choice for the post of chief minister. If the high command fails to acknowledge it, the party will have to face the wrath of the community in the 2024 LS polls,” he warned.
Speaking to TNSE from Kerala, he said that a mega convention of Edigas will be held in Bengaluru on September 10 and another big meet in Udupi in January 2024.
Meanwhile, Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan hit out at Hariprasad stating that “one upmanship” will not work in Congress. “People like me, Hariprasad, Bandi Siddegowda or Babanna can’t take a decision on CM candidate. We have our party high command and leaders such as Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi who will take a call on such matters,” he said. Home Minister G Parameshwara clarified that Siddaramaiah is capable of replying to Hariprasad’s statement.
At the community’s meeting, Hariprasad alleged that there has been a conspiracy to snub him in the party. He strongly criticised Siddaramaiah for not keeping his promise of granting Rs 5 crore to Koti Channayya Park at Karkala. “Politically, he never helped me. But I helped him,” he said and added that he never felt let down for not being made a cabinet minister. Sources close to him said he wants to know from the high command as to why he is being sidelined.
Former Rajya Sabha member Hariprasad, who moved to state politics and became MLC, was Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council. But the party high command inducted NS Boseraju into the cabinet and made him MLC. He eventually became the party’s floor leader in the Council.