Unrest in South troubles Congress, BJP
Unrest in South, especially in Karnataka, Andhra and Tamil Nadu, is causing concern to the two national parties — the Congress and the BJP — where the issues of mining scam, agitation on Telangana statehood and the DMK’s isolation are influencing politics.
The Congress does not want the Janata Dal (S) to get political mileage out of Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde’s report on the mining scam and a possible removal of chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.
“The Congress should have been more active on this issue, it should be on the streets but H.D. Kumaraswamy and his JD(S) has been more aggressive than us. Our main objective is to discredit the ruling BJP and weaken the JD(S) which too is not clean on mining,” said a senior Congress leader and a Union minister.
In Tamil Nadu, its ally DMK has realised that it is no more an asset for the Congress at the Centre. It is getting marginalised at the national level after its two Union ministers A. Raja and Dayanidhi Maran had to quit on the charges of corruption.
The DMK’s general council meeting at Coimbatore did not take any decision on two Cabinet berths allocated to the party as replacements for Mr Raja and Mr Maran. The Karunanidhi-led party is not gaining anything despite being in power at the Centre and not being able to play the role of Opposition in the state effectively as Ms Kanimozhi, the daughter of Mr Karunanidhi, and Mr Raja are in jail. The party’s dilemma whether to remain in the government and the fight for power in the first family is demoralising the rank and file.
The Congress too is not even a player in Tamil Nadu after its humiliating defeat in the state Assembly polls. The current mood in the AICC is not to replace PCC chief K.V. Thangkabalu. Interestingly, the party managers are shielding Bihar PCC president Mehboob Ali Kaiser even after the Congress’ dismal performance in the Bihar Assembly elections. Telangana issue continues to make Andhra Pradesh unstable. The Congress will hold talks with the party workers on the Telangana and United Andhra issue after two months, said highly-placed sources.
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