
Dinner meetings are creating ripples in Congress. They’ve exposed fissures within the ruling party in Karnataka, requiring its central leadership’s intervention to contain the damage.
As the internal power struggle became apparent, threatening to damage Congress and its government’s image, the central leadership stepped in. A meeting of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes ministers and legislators called by Home Minister G Parameshwara was put off on the directions of AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala.
However, that did not bode well with a section of senior leaders, who publicly expressed their displeasure. Cooperation Minister KN Rajanna, a staunch supporter of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, even questioned if the high command was “anti-SC/STs”.
Many in the party believe that Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar pulled the strings in the national capital to put the brakes on dinner politics in Karnataka. On the day Surjewala issued the directions to Parameshwara to put off the meeting, the DyCM was in New Delhi. Just a day before that Shivakumar had launched Congress’ “Pyari Didi” scheme — promising Rs 2,500/month for women if it comes to power — ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls.
He also talked about the Karnataka government’s Guarantee schemes to lend credence to the party’s claims in the national capital, where it is fighting a tough battle against AAP and BJP. While Congress may be on a weak wicket in New Delhi, the central leadership inviting the DyCM to launch the scheme showed his heft within the party.
The trouble within the party started after Siddaramaiah and a few ministers and legislators attended a dinner meeting hosted by PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi at his residence in the first week of the new year, when Shivakumar was travelling abroad with his family. Such meetings and the party leaders’ remarks about ‘one-leader-one-post’ or the need for creating more DyCM posts indicate underlying tensions within the party that often come to the fore.
Differences in the Congress could give fresh ammo to the BJP and JDS to strengthen their narrative against the state government. BJP says the administration has taken a hit due to the internal squabbles in Congress. Also, the NDA partners are trying to overcome their internal challenges to take on the ruling party in the forthcoming local bodies elections.
Now, all eyes are on the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting called by Siddaramaiah and the party leaders’ meetings to be held under the leadership of Surjewala in Bengaluru on Monday.
Ironically, many senior leaders, including some ministers, were not aware of the agenda of the CLP meeting. Generally, legislature party meetings are held just ahead of, or during the session, and to discuss major developments. Many feel Monday’s CLP is an effort to send out a message of unity in the party. Parameshwara maintained that since the Budget session is nearing, there is a possibility of discussing the caste census report implementation and development works in assembly segments.
The CLP could be an open house for MLAs to air their grievances, and many issues, including dinner politics, are likely to come up for discussion.
As leaders try to cement their positions or seek elevation, it appears to be an arduous task for the high command to maintain complete cohesion. Another major challenge it faces is a power-sharing agreement between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar that the party is said to have worked out when the government was formed in 2023. However, there is no clarity on such an agreement.
Some senior leaders who are strongly committed to the party ideology believe that there is a need for a core committee, consisting of senior ministers and party leaders, to deal with the challenges at hand, and keep the party and its government on the right track.
Such an initiative would help build consensus and enable quick decisions on important issues, including local bodies elections and appointments to all boards and corporations. Many also are of the view that making such appointments in one go within two to three months of coming to power would have been much better for the party. After two-and-a-half years, the party could have accommodated another set of leaders in those positions to instil a sense of involvement among the party workers and leaders.
Senior leaders feel that the focus should be on building consensus and collective decisions must be made on key issues so that the government delivers on its promises.
For now, the Congress may be confident of overcoming immediate challenges, given its numbers in the Assembly. But if it has to look beyond this term, the party needs to take everyone along. Perhaps, some clarity on that may emerge post the CLP meeting on Monday evening. It is not clear if that will be followed by another dinner!