Congress’s electoral setback in Haryana may provide temporary relief to Siddaramaiah
Reportedly as the party high command finds itself on the backfoot after the loss in the North indian state, it would be keen to avoid being held accountable for another political debacle in the south, say party insiders. Siddaramaiah’s future as chief minister has been come under a cloud after the controversy surrounding the alleged illegal allotment of sites by mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) blew up to become a major political storm. Siddaramaiah is facing investigations by the Lokayukta and the Enforcement Directorate even though his wife Parvathi BM has returned all the 14 sites allotted by MUDA.Perhaps the central leadership of the party had told Siddaramaiah to maintain an aggressive posture after he had explained at a meeting in delhi that he had no role to play in his wife being allotted those sites as, at that point of time, it was as per the MUDA policy. However, after the karnataka High court rejected Siddaramaiah’s petition seeking the quashing of the sanction for investigation ordered by governor Thawarchand Gehlot, Siddaramaiah was pushed into a tight spot.But one of the three complainants, Snehamayi Krishna, went to the ED to complain, causing quite a scare in the party as it did not want its most powerful chief minister in southern india being questioned or arrested like his counterparts in delhi or Jharkhand. But the main candidate who is considered the successor to Siddaramaiah, deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, has taken the stand that the chief minister will not be changed. “He will remain chief minister for five years,” DK Suresh, former mp and DK Shivakumar’s brother, told reporters