Satish, Hebbalkar jockey for positions as Belagavi Congress rift widens

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The visit to Belagavi district by Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar on Wednesday where he wasn’t received by any of the two ministers or the 11 party MLAs from the district is symbolic of fissures within the party.

Although Shivakumar tried to downplay the absence by claiming that it was a sudden visit and that his party mates had been busy, the answer hasn’t convinced anyone who has been following the politics of Belagavi district.

The cause of the friction is the tussle between CM Siddaramaiah loyalist and Minister for Public Works Satish Jarkiholi on the one hand and Women and Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar, who is in the Shivakumar camp, trying to gain primacy in Belagavi district’s politics.

While Satish wants his daughter to get a ticket from the party for the Belagavi Lok Sabha seat, Hebbalkar wants the same for her son.

Rift over office bearers.

The other sticking point is the pending replacement of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working presidents. As many as three of the five KPCC working presidents are ministers: Ramalinga Reddy (Transport), Eshwar Khandre (Forests) and Satish (Public Works).

The other two are Saleem Ahmed and BN Chandrappa, who had replaced R Dhruvanarayana when the latter died in March. Workers argue that the ministers could not do justice to both roles.

They argue that fresh blood is needed, especially since Lok Sabha elections are due next year. Their replacement has been due since August.

Satish has been pushing for former Congress MLA from Khanapur Anjali Nimbalkar’s under the women’s quota while Hebbalkar favours Athani MLA Laxman Savadi.

Jarkiholi believes that a party loyalist should get the post over Savadi, who left the BJP for the Congress before the May Assembly elections.

MLA excursion foiled

Satish, in an attempt to display his clout in KitturKarnataka had planned to take out a trip of 20 MLA supporters from the region to Mysuru.

However, intervention by AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge had convinced him to drop his plan since it would “give ammunition to the Opposition".