Tensions flared within the Congress party on Wednesday as the dispute over the party’s candidate for the Kolar Lok Sabha seat reached Vidhana Soudha. High drama ensued as five Congress legislators aligned with former Speaker Ramesh Kumar threatened to resign if the party nominated Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa’s son-in-law, Chikkapeddanna, for the seat. Among them was Higher Education Minister Dr. MC Sudhakar.
The JDS-BJP alliance is poised to capitalize on this discord, particularly as Muniyappa hails from the SC (left) community, which commands significant voter influence in the old Mysuru region. Sources suggest that the alliance may even approach Chikkapeddanna. Upon learning of the party high command’s decision to endorse Chikkapeddanna for Kolar, the Congress MLAs, including Dr. Sudhakar, K Y Nanje Gowda, Kotturu Majunath, and MLCs Nazeer Ahmed and Anil Kumar, rushed to submit their resignation letters to the Speaker and Council chairman.
With Speaker UT Khader absent, the legislators attempted to book a flight to meet him in Mangaluru. However, Nazeer and Anil met Council chairman Basavaraj Horatti to inform him of their decision.
In response, Kolar district in-charge minister Byrati Suresh assured the disgruntled legislators that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar would address the issue upon their return from tours of Mysuru and coastal Karnataka, respectively. However, Horatti expressed concern over potential political motives behind the legislators’ actions.
Acknowledging the dissent within the Kolar Congress unit, Siddaramaiah admitted to the existence of opposition to Muniyappa’s son-in-law’s candidature, particularly from those advocating for a candidate from the SC-right category for the seat.
Even Bangarpet MLA SN Narayanaswamy voiced opposition to nominating a candidate from Muniyappa’s family, expressing frustration over what he perceived as undue influence within the party.
In response, Muniyappa defended his stance, asserting his commitment to securing fair representation for the SC community. He highlighted the need for equitable distribution of seats among SC subgroups and reaffirmed his advocacy for this cause with AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge.
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