Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, May 27: Sources say that Congress leadership wants to undertake major surgery for the party unit in Karnataka. The Congress think-tank feels that M B Patil can be the saviour of the party in north Karntaka where BJP has a stronghold. The leaders also feel that Patil has the ability to match BJP state president, B S Yeddyurappa, who is currently the undisputed leader in that area. The fact that Patil is a Lingayat makes the matters easy as Yeddyurappa is also a Lingayat leader.

Although BJP has some experienced leaders in north Karnataka they have not shown the inclination to grow into state level leaders. The Congress, with this in mind, wants to experiment with Patil by giving him additional responsibilities.

The party feels that social justice that was the motto of the Congress got diluted with Siddaramaiah's repeated support for minorities, backward classes and dalit, as a result of which higher castes distanced themselves from the Congress. They think that Lingayats were polarized towards the BJP and the Vokkaligas favoured JD(S). Although Congress has eminent leaders like D K Shivakumar, the party is under pressure not to position him as the party's poster boy as of now. The fact that Shivakumar has been in the eye of storm over income tax and enforcement directorate cases and also that he is close to Deve Gowda's family have worked to his disadvantage.

Although Patil was offered the post of the state president in the past, he preferred to remain a minister. The party's dominant leaders, Siddaramaiah and Parameshwar are from southern Karnataka and the party needs a leader from north Karnataka to maintain balance. There is a thinking that if the government crashes, Patil could be made the state president of the Congress. It is said that in the exercise to save the government, M B Patil may be made the second deputy chief minster during the cabinet reshuffle to give him importance andallow him to grow as the party's saviour.