‘Parivarwaad’-related infighting inside the Karnataka Congress puts Siddaramaiah in damage control

There is a full-fledged internal conflict inside the Karnataka Congress because of “parivarwaad.” A number of parliamentarians and prominent figures are vehemently opposed to Karnataka Minister KH Muniyappa as well as the Kolar Lok Sabha candidate. The Congress high command is said to have promised Muniyappa his son-in-law, KG Chikka Peddanna, the Kolar seat.

In response to these claims, Muniyappa’s son-in-law has received threats from four MLAs and two MLCs from the Kolar district, including Dr. MC Sudhakar, the minister of Karnataka higher education, to resign from the assembly. SN Narayanswamy, Kothur G. Manjunath, KY Nanjegowda, and other State Congress MLAs have also made resignation threats.

Actually, holding their resignation letters, MLCs Naseer Ahmed and M L Anil Kumar met with Legislative Council Chairman BS Horatti on Wednesday. However, they were persuaded to hold off on demanding their resignation until Chief Minister Siddaramaiah arrived in Bengaluru from Mysuru. Muniyappa’s proposal is also opposed by former Karnataka speaker Ramesh Kumar, who was just defeated for the Srinivaspura assembly seat in Kolar. Muniyappa and Ramesh Kumar had been at odds since the Assembly elections in the previous year.

The parliamentarians in protest claim that Muniyappa is a minister and that Roopakala, his daughter, is also a member of parliament. Recently, she was also appointed chairperson of a state board.

It seems excessive to give his son-in-law a seat in the Lok Sabha as well. Every member of a family cannot get that many postings. One of the dissident leaders told News18 on the condition of anonymity, “We are keen on a candidate who hails from the Right Sect of the Scheduled Caste community, which constitutes 3.8 lakh voters.”

In an explanation of his resignation offer, Dr. MC Sudhakar said that he had been harmed by the politics that Muniyappa and his family had engaged in. He went on to say that Sudhakar’s father had to bear the brunt of his politics, even though he was a five-time MLA.

I had often appealed to the party’s high leadership because I was also disturbed. Our remarks were not taken seriously by this person, Muniyappa, who was also a central minister and MP. I have nothing against the upper leadership of the party. The state minister said, “I have the utmost respect, but his word was accepted and not ours. Muniyappa will “encourage dissidence in the constituency,” he said.

“He would support my opponents, and I became frustrated and made an offer to quit the party. Despite receiving two ticket offers, I declined and ran as an Independent. The minister from Karnataka remarked, “I cannot express the pain I have gone through.”

It is worth noting that a number of dissident Congress officials collaborated to oppose KH Muniyappa during the 2019 parliamentary elections, while simultaneously supporting S Muniswamy, the incumbent MP at the time. As a result, Muniyappa suffered his first political setback.

“We are not going to accept any pressure tactics from KH Muniyappa,” Manjunath, another MLA, said to News18. He has received plenty from the party, therefore we need to work for them rather than the family.

Both Minister Muniyappa and his son-in-law are members of the Scheduled Caste’s Left Sect. The internal tensions among the state’s Dalit population are tied to the Congress insurrection. There are two factions within the Karnataka scheduled caste system: Dalit Right and Dalit Left. The Dalit Right candidate should be awarded a ticket this time from Kolar, according to the protesting Congress leaders and MLAs.

According to party officials, the Kolar district has over 4 lakh SC (Right) voters, and the community needs representation. They have proposed CM Muniyappa, the leader of the SC (Right), as the “rightful” candidate for the Kolar Lok Sabha constituency. Former Rajya Sabha MP L Hanumanthaiah is another name being floated for the same seat.

Notably, the Left Wing is more prevalent in the Gulbarga seat, where the party’s nominee is Radhakrishna Doddamani, the son-in-law of AICC President Mallikarjuna Kharge, while KH Muniyappa is said to have a stronger rapport with the Left Wing supporters.

Since the events, there have been tense talks. To resolve disagreements and allay worries, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his troubleshooting partner DK Shivakumar are scheduled to meet with the MLAS later today. Since CM Siddaramaiah was in Mysuru, the lawmakers who were upset did not meet with him late at night.

“I’ll give the leaders a call and talk to them. In politics, something occurs. I’m going to meet with the leaders of Kolar tonight. When I go to Bangalore, I’ll talk to them,” Siddaramaiah said on Thursday.

Nobody is willing to quit; they are exerting pressure. The ticket has not yet been revealed; this evening, a choice will be made. Together, we will endeavor to ensure that the party wins the first seat. The Congress party would not elevate the status of any person, according to DK Shivakumar.

“I will follow whatever the Congress party decides.” I filed an appeal with the high command when they (the dissident MLAs) left. Nevertheless, they were granted ministries and welcomed back into the party. Nevertheless, I supported the party because I wanted the Congress to establish a government and protect this state’s citizens. I remained silent. Minister Muniyappa said, “I will now follow whatever the high command decides.”

Muniyappa formerly represented the Kolar Lok Sabha seat as a member of the Lok Sabha for over three decades. In both of the UPA administrations, he served as a union minister and had significant responsibilities including transport and railways. After losing the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he just emerged victorious from the Devanahalli assembly seat.