Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore (SP)

Bangalore, Dec 14: Sarekoppa Bangarappa, who has the habit of frequently jumping from one party to another, receives thunderous welcome in every party because of his caste-based following in Shimoga and Uttara Kannada districts.

His sway, however, has eroded over a period of time, as some of his trusted lieutenants have deserted him. Bangarappa is critical of Veerappa Moily, who he says, has been trying to stunt his growth, and Karnataka Pradesh Congress president, Parameshwar, for heeding to the pleas of his son, Kumar Bangarappa, to change leaders and committee members at the district level.

Deve Gowda, who confirmed on Monday December 13 that Bangarappa is already in the JDS fold, said that a grand welcome to the leader would be held in Kolar on December 21 or 22, adding that a number of former ministers and MLAs from different parties would join the JDS at the said function. He predicted political polarization to benefit his party immensely.

In the meanwhile, Kumar Bangarappa criticized his father for indulging in political gimmicks at an age in which he should have been playing with grandchildren and spending time with friends.  He said that Bangarappa’s departure will have no impact whatsoever in the prospects of the Congress.  Kumar Bangarappa felt that JDS does not have internal democracy, as the father-son duo is functioning in positions of national president and state president of that party. Kumar held talks with Sonia Gandhi, union ministers, S M Krishna and Veerappa Moily, state-in-charge, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Oscar Fernandes etc., to drive home the point that there is no need to worry over Bangarappa’s exit from the party.

Former state Chief Minister, Dharam Singh, and union minister, Mallikarjun Kharge, also said that the party does not lose anything because of Bangarappa’s desertion. They noted that Bangarappa had recently joined the party and hence, does not hold much clout here.

The followers of Bangarappa, many of whom are now distributed in the Congress and the BJP, are at the crossroads again. Some of them, like Uttara Kannada district Congress president, Bheemanna Naik, who happens to be Bangarappa’s brother-in-law, had bagged this post only last month. Now he cannot afford to leave the party, as he has earned the post after lot of efforts. Moreover, taluk and zilla panchayat elections are at the threshold. Bhemmanna said that he would like not to comment on Bangarappa’s decision to join the JDS, and that he would concentrate on the immediate task of faring well in the coming elections. The same predicament faces a number of lower rung leaders in Shimoga district, where some close confidants of Bangarappa are in organizational positions at the district level.