Congress leaves the fire-fighting to HDK

With three senior leaders MB Patil, HK Patil and Satish Jarkiholi keeping the Congress on tenter hooks in Karnataka, the party has left it to Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, the State President of its ally, the JD(S), to douse the fire.

Kumaraswamy was quick to react to the ongoing political impasse and met dissidents like Patil. Leaders close to Kumaraswamy claim that the CM has also met other Congress MLAs who were overlooked for ministerial positions

The Chief Minister’s move has surprised leaders of both parties, also earning him flak from different quarters for interfering in another party’s matters.

A section of the JD(S) has begun to question the rationale behind Kumaraswamy meeting Congress MLAs, alleging that the CM’s actions were instructions from Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

“Being a leader of the JD(S), it is not in his jurisdiction to deal with the internal matters of coalition partner Congress. But he has taken up such a mission in his capacity as Chief Minister to ensure his government’s stability,” a senior party leader said.

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With the open dissension and the delay in portfolio allocation, the JD(S)-Congress government is yet to settle down. On Monday, only a handful of ministers who took office held reviews of their departments.