Rajanna exit shows party loyalty paramount

For any political party, discipline is of utmost importance and more so when it is in power. This cardinal rule applies equally to the Congress in Karnataka which has been in power with a comfortable majority since 2023. Despite the fact that the Congress has more than 135 seats in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, what has become a point of serious concern for the party leadership are discordant voices arising now and then from legislators. They pertain to a variety of issues from inadequate funds for constituency development to the tussle for ministerial berths and party posts.

 There is no doubting the fact that the five guarantee schemes which swept the Congress to power and reduced the opposition BJP to a paltry 65 odd seats in the Assembly, are eating away a major chunk of state funds; This could the reason why even veteran Congress legislators like BR Patil have been coming out in the open embarrassing the party while alleging corruption and fund inadequacy. Another MLA from Sagar in Shivamogga district wanted a minister in his own government to resign while alleging corruption in house allotment.

But not many can match the indefatigable KN Rajanna, who represents Madhugiri in Tumakuru. A couple of months ago, he stunned political circles claiming that the state would witness a ‘political revolution’ after September, setting off the buzz about major political changes. The statement took many by surprise; was he hinting at a change of guard in the state helmed by Siddaramaiah, his political guru? Only Rajanna would know.
The seventy-four-year-old Rajanna also set off  a political thunderstorm claiming that attempts were made to honey trap him - was he pointing to the ‘designs’ of the rival Congress camp led by loyalists of DK Shivakumar to embarrass and isolate hardcore Siddu camp followers like him?

It is a known fact that the Tumakuru leader is someone who shoots off his mouth too  often. But not many expected him to do the  unthinkable on a day when the Congress and other constituent parties of the INDIA bloc were going hammer and tongs at the BJP led Central government and the Election Commission over the vote fraud row. Rajanna left his party men aghast, wondering aloud if his party was not at fault when the vote fraud had happened right under the rule of the Congress government. The remark left many in the Grand Old Party red-faced and the veteran politician was asked to put in his papers by Siddaramaiah himself, which he surprisingly refused to do, leading to his dismissal.

Expressions of dissent against one’s own party are common in a democratic setup; after all Shashi Tharoor, the Thiruvananthapuram MP, continues to be in the Congress despite making known his admiration for some of the BJP-led Central government’s policies. But Rajanna is no Tharoor and when such open expressions, give the Opposition a whip to flog the ruling party, the line has to be drawn and Siddaramaiah has done exactly that, despite Rajanna being one of his closest supporters.

With a clear message sent out that indiscipline and damaging statements will not be tolerated, whichever camp one belongs to,  Siddaramaiah has  done a much-awaited ‘course correction.’  He has also sent the bells ringing for those who feel that they can get away with their vitriolic  comments and fall back on inner-party divisions to save their skin.