For the past two months, an ego clash between two senior Congress ministers has been threatening the stability of coalition government in the state.
Ramesh Jarkiholi, the Minister for Municipal Administration and his brother, Satish, had threatened to rebel, if the Minister for Irrigation DK Shivakumar continued to interfere in the local politics of Belagavi – the stronghold of the Jarkiholis.
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But a press conference by the BJP, accusing the Congress party of money laundering, managed to achieve what senior Congress leaders couldn’t – getting the two warring Congress leaders to face each other.
On Wednesday night, hours after the BJP accused DK Shivakumar of money laundering, Ramesh paid him a surprise visit at Bengaluru’s Apollo hospital, where DKS was undergoing treatment for food poisoning. According to sources, Ramesh extended his support to DK Shivakumar to take on the BJP.
Even on Thursday morning, Ramesh visited DKS in the hospital. Hours later, in New Delhi, Satish Jarkiholi said that all the “problems were settled”.
The Bargains in Delhi
On Wednesday, hours before Ramesh paid a friendly visit to DK Shivakumar in the hospital, Satish was in talks with the Congress leadership in New Delhi. According to sources, Satish was adamant about keeping DK Shivakumar, a leader from South Karnataka, out of North Karnataka’s local politics.
DK Shivakumar is currently the minister in charge of Ballari, one of the prominent districts of North Karnataka. Among the demands put forth by Satish Jarkiholi was to make one of the MLAs from Ballari part of the cabinet and making him the district in-charge minister.
According to sources, the candidate proposed by the Jarkiholi brothers was B Nagendra, a legislator from Ballari. The cabinet expansion is expected to take place after the by-elections to three Legislative Council seats from the Legislative Assembly constituency.
Problems Not Over Yet?
The Jarkiholi brothers are getting what they have asked for – removing DK Shivakumar from North Karnataka and strengthening their control over their region.
The Jarkiholi brothers belong to a scheduled caste community – Valmikies, which is a big vote bank in the region, and their candidate to the cabinet, B Nagendra belongs to the Valmiki community. This further strengthens their position in the region.
But Nagendra is new to Congress. He left the BJP for Congress before the 2018 assembly election. Ballari region has other senior leaders who have been loyal to the Congress. For example, MLA E Tukaram, who was the only candidate from the Congress who won in the 2008 Assembly elections, when the BJP swept the votes in the region.
Some leaders in the party fear choosing Nagendra, an outsider, over the other leaders as it likely to evoke discontent within the party.
While the clash between Jarkiholi brothers and DK Shivakumar has come to an end, the BJP is still fishing in troubled waters.
A special BJP legislature party meeting, on Wednesday, authorised party president BS Yeddyurappa to take appropriate decision if the coalition government collapses.
But end of the day, Congress can breathe easy as the biggest hurdle of brokering piece between two powerhouses in the party has been overcome.
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