Siddaramaiah men kept guessing by Cong

Eight former legislators of the Janata Dal (S), who have identified themselves with former deputy chief minister Siddaramaiah (now in the Congress), are finding the going tough.

The Congress, which initially supported their entry into the party along with Siddaramaiah over a year ago, does not seem to be interested in accommodating them now.

The eight legislators, who were in New Delhi for a week, returned to Bangalore after failing to impress the Congress high command. The eight supporters, including former ministers H C Mahadevappa and Vaijnath Patil, former legislators B R Patil, M K Somashekar, Venkatesh, M Mahadev, K Krishnamurthy and H Y Meti could not secure an assurance from the Congress on accommodating them in the party.

"When Siddaramaiah quit the JD(S) to join the Congress, we stood by him. We too wanted to quit the JD(S) and join Congress at the same time. But the Congress leadership directed us to quit the JD(S) only after the Assembly's term came to an end. Now that the Assembly has been dissolved, we have been trying to convince the Congress leaders to let us in. Unfortunately, the proposal to accommodate us in the Congress is not on the party leaders' agenda," Patil told reporters here.

On two occasions in the past when these eight leaders were supposed to join the Congress in Bangalore, the programmes were cancelled at the last moment.

"We were under the impression all these days that we would be given positions in the Congress. But, we have realised that it is not happening for the time being. We will wait for some more time," he added.

According to Congress sources, there is strong opposition within the Congress to accommodate the former JD(S) legislators.

"All the eight leaders have been in the Janata Parivar for over two decades. The Congress leaders in the constituencies represented by the former JD(S) MLAs have ideological differences. It may lead to tension within the party," the sources said.

The sources pointed out that Siddaramaiah is gradually losing his bargaining power in Congress.

"His recent public spat with former Congress minister M Mahadevu has unsettled the loyal Congress leaders in the state. They don't want many more JD(S) leaders to join the party as it will create more rift within the party. Besides, the reorganisation of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) is on the cards. Siddaramaiah's supporters have been asked to wait till the KPCC is reorganised," the sources added.