Karnataka CM S Siddaramaiah faces dissent over ‘coterie’ politics

Karnataka Chief Minister S Siddaramaiah is facing his first rebellion from his MLAs who have complained to party high command against his working style.

Four months after the Congress swept the Assembly elections in Karnataka, Congress MLAs have written to party general secretary incharge Digvijaya Singh complaining against Siddaramaiah.

About 20 MLAs have blamed the chief minister for sidelining traditional Congressmen and giving more prominence to his coterie dominated by “outsiders”. Siddaramaiah, a former Janata Dal (Secular) man who joined Congress in 2006, had fought the “outsider” tag to convincingly trump traditional Congressmen to the top post after the Assembly elections.

The MLAs have alleged that Siddaramaiah does not respond to their legitimate demands. In their letter, MLAs have given specific names of people in Siddaramaiah’s coterie and said that people like K R Puram MLA Byrathi Basavaraj, retired IPS officer Kempaiah and few others are running the government like their fiefdom. They have also alleged that a lot of money has exchanged hands during the transfer of government employees.