Siddaramaiah’s big birthday bash plan leaves party red faced

Barely a few days after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had a ‘peace meeting’ with senior state leaders in Delhi, the Siddu camp has put a grand plan in motion to mark his 75th birthday on 12 August outside the party fold, leaving the party high command red faced. The Siddu camp has eponymously called the celebration, the Siddaramaiah, 75 Amrutmahotsav.

The Congress leader had called KPCC President D.K. Shivakumar and Congress Legislative Party Leader in Karnataka state Assembly Siddaramaiah last week on 28 June to bring truce between the warring leaders and discuss party preparations for coming Assembly elections in the state. Elections to the state Assembly are due sometime around May next year. The meeting was held in the presence of Karnataka in-charge Randeep Surjewala and AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal. The meeting followed after Siddaramaiah tried to push his name as chief ministerial face in the next elections through the party high command a week before, when Siddaramaiah was in Delhi along with other state leaders to participate in the Congress ‘Satyagraha’ at Jantar Mantar.

However, it looks like that Siddu, as Siddaramaiah

is popularly known, has given the party high command’s peace efforts a snub as his camp made a big plan to mark his 75th birthday on 12 August outside the party fold.

During last week’s meeting, it was brought to the notice of party leaders about how Siddaramaiah was making efforts to project himself as chief ministerial face for coming elections and also organising ‘Ahinda’ (acronym for minorities/SC/ST and OBC) programmes outside the party banner and such initiatives would not benefit the party. According to sources, Siddu had been told in clear terms that nobody was above the party and all programmes must happen under the party banner. Yet, he is going ahead with organising a big birthday bash in his name in the state, sources said.

A committee comprising his loyalists – former Industries Minister RV Deshpande, ‘motor mouth’ KN Rajanna and former PWD Minister HC Mahadevappa – has also been put together for ‘Siddaramaiah – 75 Amrutmahotsav’ celebrations. Rajanna had raised some hackles when he said that Deve Gowda would soon be carried by four persons.

The troika is holding a press conference on Tuesday at a star hotel to make the announcement for ‘Siddaramaiah – 75 Amrutmahotsav’ celebrations.

Sources in KPCC told The Daily Guardian Review that the party is unaware of this press briefing and this issue is now being escalated to the party high command in Delhi. “When BS Yediyurappa turned 77 last year, he was the sitting CM then and the programme took place under the banner of the party. But here time and again Siddaramaiah is holding events to project and position himself as though he is indispensable. He hardly does any activity in the party ever since DK was given the charge of the party and now he has resorted to blackmail tactics,” sources said. 

While the press release has already been circulated by the Siddaramaiah’s office about Tuesday’s press conference, it remains to be seen if the party high command would rein in Siddu before it is too late.