To resolve Karnataka crisis, Congress must first rein in Siddaramaiah, but his clout in state may overpower Rahul Gandhi's own
FirstpostThe ’nataka’ in Karnataka continues with Congress MLAs coming to blows at the Eagleton resort in the outskirts of Bengaluru, where party legislators have been put up to stave off the BJP’s alleged poaching attempts. To address this very issue, former Karnataka chief minister and Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah held a meeting of MLAs on Monday in Bengaluru. Besides, Siddaramaiah’s discontent with the Congress-JD tie-up and his hostility towards Kumaraswamy — starting with criticising the JD leader for presenting a full-fledged budget after assuming office to expressing doubts about how long the coalition government would survive in Karnataka — goes back to the Congress leader’s days in the JD, where he felt that JD chief and former prime minister Deve Gowda did not give him his due. Rahul Gandhi’s silence isn’t helping While Siddaramaiah’s influence is evident in Karnataka politics, Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s silence over the political turmoil in the state party unit is even more so.