The Congress high command seems to have managed to put to rest temporarily, the acrimony pouring out of veteran leader and MLC BK Hariprasad. Sources in the Karnataka Congress unit said that the party high command spoke to Hariprasad Monday night and Tuesday morning and convinced him not to publicly air his differences with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and to solve the issues internally. 

Siddaramaiah had found himself in a bind over the antagonistic statements being made by BK Hariprasad after being neglected for the post of Minister. At a public event of Idiga, Billava, Namdhari and OBC communities on Saturday, September 9, Hariprasad railed that despite assurances, the post of the Deputy Chief Minister had not been given to a Dalit. While not taking names, he took a clear jibe at Siddaramaiah saying, “One cannot become a socialist by wearing a Hublot watch, dhoti and khaki shorts inside.”

Despite various ministers and party leaders criticising Hariprasad, he continued to make remarks targeting Siddaramaiah as well as the performance of the Congress government. 

According to Congress sources, the party definitely felt that Hariprasad’s remarks had caused damage. While they agreed that Hariprasad, a senior Congress leader who has held several important positions in the party at the national level and has been in charge of elections of several states during elections, had good reasons to feel neglected, the timing of the attack left them unsettled. 

In the last two weeks, both Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar have been attending all government and party meetings together, determined to present a united front in the face of the opposition constantly targeting them for their schism in the party. “The supposed difference between the two leaders is the only focus of the opposition, as we have an upper hand due to the popularity of the five guarantee schemes. So, the timing of Hariprasad’s statements did cause some damage to the party. Hopefully, this will stop now,” the source said.

Over the last three days, Hariprasad again targeted his ire at Siddaramaiah and the Congress for denying justice to minorities, OBCs and Dalits and questioned why G Parameshwara, who is the Home Minister, was not considered for the post of Chief Minister. Ministers like MB Patil, Priyank Kharge and Dinesh Gundu Rao criticised Hariprasad’s decision to go public with his disgruntlement, saying such matters should be discussed with party senior leaders and not aired in public.

While Siddaramaiah did not react to Hariprasad’s statement, Malur MLA KY Nanjegowda said they were disappointed with his behaviour. “He was the person who had benefited from the party. Just because he was not made a minister, he cannot criticise the Chief Minister or the Deputy Chief Minister. His behaviour has to be condemned and disciplinary action should be taken against him by both KPCC and AICC,” he said. Hariprasad was quick to react to this, saying that Siddarmaiah’s loyalists were neck deep in scams and they had managed to escape it. “Let them continue doing it,” he said.

Home Minister G Parameshwara, who according to Hariprasad, should have been made the Deputy CM, was more circumspect in his response saying that such decisions were not taken at the state unit level. “I appreciate him taking my name, but these decisions are made by senior leaders in the Congress and the high command. I am sure his statements have come to their notice,” he said.