Karnataka ex-MP stages silent protest to save Congress

Former Rajya Sabha member H Hanumanthappa (third from left) staged a protest in front of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee office in Bengaluru. AICC former general secretary B K Hariprasad, former Union Minister K H Muniyappa are seen. DH Photo

It was a Sunday and doors of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee’s office were locked.
The facade was all that H Hanumanthappa, a former Rajya Sabha member, needed for his silent protest.

“May God give Congressmen the wisdom to save the Congress party,” read the banner Hanumanthappa put up while he sat in silence.

The 87-year-old Hanumanthappa’s protest was against factions within the party, and it was his attempt to drive
home the message that the party’s interests must precede everything else.

In December 2018, Hanumanthappa slammed the party leadership in a meeting over its unpreparedness for the Lok Sabha elections, in which the grand old party managed to win just one parliamentary seat in the state.