Karnataka crisis: Congress rushes Azad, Venugopal to save last southern bastion

mangaloretoday network

Bengaluru, May 28: The Congress is the second largest party in the state with 80 MLAs. It supported the third largest party JD(S) in order to keep the saffron party out of power.

The Congress on Tuesday dispatched senior party leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and KC Venugopal to control the damage as the rift between the coalition between coalition partners Congress and JD(S) in Karnataka escalated following the declaration of Lok Sabha election results. Both the parties appear heading towards an imminent split, with the historic drubbing of the Congress at the national level pushing the coalition to the brink. The voices against the government began to surface after the BJP swept the state by winning 25 of 28 parliamentary seats in Karnataka.

The Congress’ decision to send two senior leaders to the state comes days after two disgruntled party legislators Ramesh Jharkiholi and K Sudhakar met BJP leader SM Krishna on Sunday. Reports suggest that Jharkiholi and Sudhakar were among the six Congress MLAs who had traveled to Mumbai earlier this year allegedly at the behest of BJP state chief BS Yeddyurappa in an attempt to topple the coalition government in Karnataka.

Fearing a switch by the two leaders, the grand old party has rushed Azad and Venugopal to placate them and stop them from making any move that could hurt the party. The Congress is the second largest party in the state with 80 MLAs. It supported the third largest party JD(S) in order to keep the saffron party out of power. The BJP has 104 and JD(S) has 37 MLAs in the 224-member House.

The Congress-JD(S) government is on tenterhooks as various leaders have claimed a major churn in the next couple of weeks. On Monday, senior Congress leader KN Rajanna claimed that the coalition government will collapse after June 10. He said that the coalition government will not remain in power after Prime Minister Narendra Modi takes oath on May 30. He hinted at massive differences at all levels of the party after the defeat in Lok Sabha polls.

Just before the results, Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwar himself had admitted to widening differences between the Congress and JD(S). He had said that the differences were wide open and everybody knew about it. Parameshwar said that the decision would be taken only after results. Since the results are already out, Karnataka may be bracing for some political swing in the next couple of weeks.

Courtesy:(PTI)/ Yahoo news