Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (MS)
Bengaluru, May 26: The dissidence that is brewing inside the state Congress from quite some time came out in the open on Saturday, May 25 as the MLAs turned their gun on the state leaders for the humiliating defeat of the party in the recently held Lok Sabha elections.
B C Patil, MLA of Hirekerur, who is not happy as his demand for minister's position was not entertained by the party, said that it was the apathy shown towards the Lingayats, which is one of the strongest communities of the state by the Congress that led to their defeat.
B C Patil (left) and Lingappa
Patil further turned his anger on the chief minister of the state Kumaraswamy and said, "Congress and JD(S) did not win a single seat in the northern Karnataka region because the present government has totally neglected this part of the state and also shown biased treatment."
To the query by the scribes that was the leadership of the CM of the state the reason for the humiliating debacle, Patil said that there is no need to comment on this. The results in front of you.
The understanding with JD(S) of the Congress was the cause of the debacle, accused Congress MLC C M Lingappa. He said that only the regional party JD(S) was the beneficiary of the alliance. But they could even only one seat despite spending crores of rupees.
Lingappa said, "Though JD(S) demanded seats in the beginning, it settled for seven at the end. It wanted to put up its candidates in the northern region of the state where it does not have base and ended up fielding Congress candidates in two seats. Due to this Congress lost badly."
Lingappa has vociferously objected to the alliance of the Congress party with the JD(S) since a long time. He stressed many times that this alliance is not going to benefit the party in any way. During the bye-election of Ramanagara assembly constituency, Lingappa had openly criticised the decision of Congress to give the seat to JD(S).
In addition, senior leader and revenue minister R V Deshpande has also his shock over the alliance with JD(S) after the Lok Sabha results were out.