‘Jarkiholi brothers not leaving, no trouble for state government’

BENGALURU: The Jarkiholi brothers, who are at the centre of a political storm in Karnataka, will not leave the Congress or do anything that is against the party’s interests, according to AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka affairs KC Venugopal. “I have spoken to both Ramesh Jarkiholi (minister for municipal administration) and Satish Jarkiholi. If there are any issues, we will sort it out. And they have agreed to abide by the party decision,” Venugopal told ET. The issues are more local and related to the district of Belagavi (Belgaum) and the same will not have any impact on the JD(S)-Congress coalition government, he said.

The BJP, the senior Congress leader said, has continued with its “dirty drama” of trying to create trouble for the coalition regime. “They are trying to poach our MLAs, but we are confident they will not succeed in their attempts.” “Yeddyurappa (BJP state president) is power-hungry,” Venugopal said. “The coalition government has completed 110 days, yet he is day-dreaming that the government will fall. The BJP is trying to create confusion through the media and the party will be disappointed again this time,” he said.

The Congress leader said he has been in touch with all Congress MLAs and there was no cause for concern. In response to a query, he said he has spoken to water resources minister DK Shivakumar too.


According to Congress sources, the Jarkiholi brothers, who are part of former CM Siddaramaiah’s camp, will decide on the next course of their action after the return of Siddaramaiah from Russia on September 16. The former CM, it is learnt, has asked the MLA brothers not to take any hasty decision such as joining the BJP and he will try to sort out their issues with the party after his return.

The genesis of the problem lies in the Belagavi primary land development bank elections where the Jarkiholi brothers faced a setback at the hands of first time MLA and friend-turned-foe Lakshmi Hebbalkar. That they faced a humiliating setback in their fiefdom because of minister Shivakumar’s role in favour of his protege Hebbalkar is at the centre of the whole problem.

Shivakumar, who hails from the dominant Vokkaliga community and has won successive Assembly polls, is a prominent Congress leader nursing an ambition to become the chief minister in the near future. He is the minister in-charge of Ballari district and his intervention in Belagavi politics is said to be part of a larger agenda of deepening his influence in the Mumbai-Karnataka district of 18 Assembly constituencies.

Meanwhile, a JD(S) minister said a section of BJP MLAs are in touch with the party and the party know how to protect their numbers if push comes to shove.