Top Congress leaders on Monday got an earful from the party’s candidates who faced defeat in the polls.
Newly-appointed KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara and Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah chaired a meeting of the party’s defeated candidates to hear them out and iron out differences ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Several sitting legislators, including ministers in the previous government, lost the election. Some of them stated in the meeting that they lost due to internal sabotage. They chided the party’s leadership for not heeding warnings about possible sabotage attempts by those who were denied tickets. The Congress tally has come down to 78 from 122 in the previous Assembly.
According to sources, Siddaramaiah concurred with the view and said he also knew who sabotaged his poll campaign in Chamundeshwari.
It is also learnt that the leaders blamed the religion issue as one of the main reasons for the party’s debacle. Apparently, some of them said they were winnable candidates, but for the controversy surrounding religious status for the Lingayat faith working against them. Some even alleged tampering of EVMs among reasons for their defeat. Some of the defeated candidates, especially former minister A Manju (Arsikere), opposed the party’s decision to join hands with the JD(S) and warned the top leaders to “beware” of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, it is learnt.
Siddaramaiah’s close aide, former minister H C Mahadevappa who lost to T Narsipura, did not attend the meeting. N Cheluvarayaswamy (Nagamangala), A B Ramesh Bandisiddegowda (Srinrangapatna) and
H C Balakrishna (Magadi) who hopped from JD(S) and Congressman P Ravikumar (Mandya) - all who lost - were also not seen.
“We have to fight with new vigour and defeat communal forces in the Lok Sabha election. We have entered into an alliance with the JD(S) with this intention,” Siddaramaiah told reporters. “Defeated candidates have shared some issues and I have assured them that I’ll discuss it in the coordination committee,” he said.