The Congress and the JD(S) in Karnataka suffered major blows on Tuesday when one leader expressed his outrage against his party and another quit in the midst of a developing political crisis in the southern state.
While Congress leader Ramalinga Reddy wrote an open letter to his party top bosses accusing senior leaders for the party’s failure in Lok Sabha elections, Karnataka JD(S) president AH Vishwanath announced his resignation from the post.
In an open letter addressed to the Congress high command led by Rahul Gandhi, Reddy, the former Home Minister, accused senior leaders of not coordinating with the leaders in the state which led to the debacle of the party in Karnataka.
In his letter, written in Kannada and shared on Twitter, Reddy said that it was the “lack of organisational vision of some Congress ministers” that led to the loss of seats in the southern state.
He said that party’s leading members and supervisors in the state stumbled on party’s internal problems.
ಪಕ್ಷದ ಪರ ಚುನಾವಣಾ ಫಲಿತಾಂಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಎಡವಿದ ಸಚಿವರಿಗೆ ಪಕ್ಷ ಸಂಘಟನಾ ಜವಾಬ್ದಾರಿ ನೀಡುವುದರ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಹಿರಿಯರಿಗೆ ಸರ್ಕಾರದಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ಥಾನಮಾನ ನೀಡಿ ಪಕ್ಷದ ಆಂತರಿಕ ಅಸಮತೋಲನವನ್ನು ಸರಿಪಡಿಸುವ ಕಾರ್ಯವನ್ನು, ಜವಾಬ್ದಾರಿ ಹೊತ್ತಿರುವ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ನಾಯಕರು ಗಮನ ಹರಿಸಬೇಕಾಗಿದೆ.
6/6 pic.twitter.com/64q3r4mEOi
— Ramalinga Reddy (@RLR_BTM) June 4, 2019
When asked to comment on the letter, Reddy told ANI, “You can’t give ‘makkhan’ (butter) to one side and ‘chuna’ (lime) to other. I’ve never lobbied for opposition. But there should be fairness in allocation of portfolios. Not raising voice against injustice is wrong, that is why I have spoken [sic].”
On the other hand, Adagur H Vishwanath stepped down from his post over his sidelining when choosing candidates for urban local body polls.
According to The New Indian Express, Vishwanath had on Monday made his intention clear as he was concerned about candidates being chosen without his inputs.
Vishwanath resigned at a legislators’ meeting JD(S) called in Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s house. Reports say that Kumaraswamy may take over the mantle of state president from Vishwanath.
Both the JD(S) and Congress suffered a drubbing at the hands of the BJP in the parliamentary elections. The two parties, which are alliance partners in the government, managed to win just one seat each of the 28. The BJP wave conquered 25 while one seat went to an Independent, who was supported by the BJP.