BENGALURU: After Delhi, Kerala seems to have become the war room of the grand old party to chalk out strategies to safeguard the Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka. Its proximity to Karnataka and as the home state of AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, Rahul Gandhi’s Man Friday, makes Kerala a convenient meeting ground for leaders from Karnataka who frequent it both confidentially and publicly.
The state has been chosen as part of the strategy as it is easy to avoid the glare of media and opposition parties. At Venugopal’s place, Congress leaders feel free to discuss issues and pass on messages to the party high command, especially Rahul Gandhi, a leader observed.
A similar meeting was held when Siddaramaiah visited Nilambur on Wednesday, where he presented the Aryadan Mohammed Memorial award to Venugopal, according to sources.
Apart from Siddaramaiah, CM aspirants DyCM DK Shivakumar and Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara had also visited Kerala and held discussions with Venugopal confidentially, another source informed. This was in case Siddaramaiah had to step down any time shortly.
Kharge arrives
After campaigning in Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana for the assembly elections, AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge arrived in Bengaluru on Thursday. He is likely to discuss the court order for inquiry with the CM, Shivakumar and other senior leaders.
“Since most of the things and strategies about Karnataka politics were discussed with KC Venugopal, Kharge may not discuss the issue again thoroughly. The leader’s visit may be a casual one,” observed a senior Congress leader.