The Congress legislature party leader in the Karnataka Assembly, Siddaramaiah, has reiterated that none of the turncoat MLAs will be reinducted into the party. The statement comes at a time when BJP in the State is looking at a possible leadership change and the fate of 17 MLAs who defected to the BJP hangs in balance.
“No way we will take them back who went to BJP. Who said they are coming back? I have no idea. On the floor of the house I made a statement, for any reason they won’t be taken back,” he said.
The Yediyurappa-led BJP govt completes two years in power on July 26, and he has said that he is in the Chief Minister seat only as long as the party high command wishes it.
Following the statement on Friday, several turncoat MLAs who are now ministers in the Yediyurappa Cabinet huddled at the latter’s chamber. Minister K Sudhakar, Shivaram Hebbar, Somashekhar, MTB Nagaraj, Byrathi Basavaraj, BC Patil went to his chamber with a letter each in their hands.
“Few of us ministers met the Chief Minister, we also sought clarification regarding the statement that he made to the media. He has sought our cooperation to bring the party back to power in 2023. If need be we will meet our party leaders,” said Sudhakar after the meeting.
The BJP which was the single largest party following the Assembly elections in 2018 could not form the government as it was short of the majority. The Congress and JDS came to power as a coalition. But a year later, thirteen MLAs from Congress and three MLAs from the JDS defected which led to the fall of the coalition government. The BJP came to power with their support and BS Yediyurappa was sworn in as Chief Minister on July 26, 2019.
Earlier this month too, Siddaramaiah had made a similar statement after KPCC President DK Shivakumar said anyone including the seventeen MLAs can join the Congress.
The political tussle over who will succeed BS Yediyurappa continues even as it is becoming clearer that a search for a successor is in full swing. While many aspirants are there in the party, the party high command is weighing caste break-up, the regional balance of leaders and strategising with other calculations keeping in mind the Assembly elections two years away.
While Yediyurappas loyalists R Ashok, the Revenue Minister from the Vokkaliha community, and Basavaraj Bommai, the Home Minister from the Lingayat community, have his support, others are also lobbying for the post. Among the front runners are Murugesh Nirani, the Lingayat minister from north Karnataka, and Arvind Bellad, another Lingayat MLA who is a young Turk of the party, and a few other names including national general secretary C T Ravi whose names are being bandied about.
(With inputs from Deepa Balakrishnan)
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