The Hindu : Front Page : Has crisis in State Congress blown over?

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Wednesday, Mar 12, 2008
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Has crisis in State Congress blown over?

S. Rajendran

High command intervenes in an attempt to sort out differences

Three poll-related committees to be formed soon
Krishna’s road-show cancelled

S.M. Krishna

M. Mallikarjun Kharge

Bangalore: The crisis in the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee over the high status being accorded to the former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, who has resigned as the Governor of Maharashtra, is stated to have been resolved with the AICC reportedly suggesting a formula that could bring about amity between the pro-Krishna group and other senior Congress leaders.

KPCC president M. Mallikarjun Kharge has been camping in New Delhi for the past two days, ostensibly to attend a meeting of all Pradesh Congress presidents and legislature party leaders called by AICC president Sonia Gandhi to discuss how to disseminate the salient features of the Union Budget.

With the crisis in the State Congress surfacing over the past few days, Mr. Kharge used the occasion to discuss the matter with the AICC president and other senior leaders including party general secretary in charge of Karnataka Prithviraj Chavan.

While leaders in the Kharge camp told The Hindu that the crisis has been resolved following the intervention by the high command, those in the Krishna group said the crisis continued. According to them, Mr. Krishna, given his stature and seniority in the Congress, is reluctant to work under the KPCC president. Further, according to the plan finalised in consultation with senior AICC leaders, he will take overall charge of the party in the coming elections.

Congress sources said three committees would be constituted shortly, and that should bring about homogeneity in the party. They are an election committee headed by the KPCC president, an Election Management Coordination Committee headed by Mr. Krishna and an Election Campaign Committee headed by the former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Mr. Kharge has reportedly requested that he should be kept out of the coordination committee headed by Mr. Krishna.

In another development, the ‘road-show’ from Belgaum to Bangalore with Mr. Krishna in the lead has been cancelled following the differences in the party over his return to State politics. The pro-Krishna group had planned the three-day programme to serve as an informal launch of the election campaign. The KPCC, however, stated that it would not be a party to the move since it was not a programme organised by the party. The differences in the party are community based. The dominant Vokkaliga community is rallying behind Mr. Krishna, while senior Congress leaders such as M. Veerappa Moily, Oscar Fernandes, B.K. Hariprasad, M.V. Rajasekharan, R.L. Jalappa, Tejaswini Gowda, C.K. Jaffer Sharief and N. Dharam Singh are rallying behind Mr. Kharge who is a Dalit. There are three groups in the State Congress: the pro-Krishna group (Vokkaliga), old Congressmen (Mr. Kharge, Mr. Sharief, Mr. Moily, Mr. Dharam Singh and others) and Siddaramaiah group (comprising former JD members).

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