Congress fissures deepen as 22 MLAs defy high command, fly to Australia, New Zealand

Bengaluru: Of the 27 Congress legislators who had initially planned an overseas trip, 22 will leave for Australia and New Zealand early Wednesday despite reported warnings from the party high command. The move has intensified a tussle between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar for the chief minister post. The development comes despite Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge advising state functionaries to avoid differences and move forward through consensus.
Initially, 27 legislators aligned with Siddaramaiah, including MLCs Sharangouda Bayyapura and D Thimmaiah and 25 MLAs, including animal husbandry minister K Venkatesh, were slated to embark on the trip. However, four MLAs — NH Konareddy, Ganesh Prasad, Darshan Dhruvanarayan and Anil Chikkamadu — and minister Venkatesh opted out, allegedly following the high command's intervention. "I was supposed to accompany my party MLAs for the trip. But I decided to stay back owing to pending work in my constituency, Navalagund," said Konareddy. Prasad said he initially considered joining the tour party as he saw nothing political about it. "I decided to drop out because I have to attend to personal work and issues related to my constituency, Gundlupuet," he said. Sources said Shivakumar was planning to press the high command to convene a Congress legislature party meeting by Feb end. The trip is being seen as a way to counter that plan. Sources say another group of MLAs is planning a similar trip. The high command is said to have taken a serious view of the developments, with AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala reportedly calling several MLAs and asking them not to proceed with the plan. When asked about it, Shivakumar said he had no information about the trip. "I came to know about this only through the media," he said. "I do not know whether these are personal trips or whether someone is sponsoring them. There are people sending others on tours and people going on tours. As party president, I will not interfere in this." Minister Priyank Kharge, son of Mallikarjun Kharge, sought to downplay the controversy, saying legislators had travelled abroad earlier as well and questioned the need for permission. "I don't know who has asked them not to go on the trip. There is no connection between them and the preparation of the state budget," he said. When asked about legislators travelling as a group, he said, "They had gone earlier as well. Legislators would have directly met the chief minister and placed their demands (for the budget) regarding their constituencies. Is there any rule that says legislators should not go on trips overseas? Is it illegal? Is it unconstitutional? Or is permission from the high command required? No. Do they require the govt's permission? No. They have undertaken a private trip as friends. Why should there be objections?" he asked. On reports that Shivakumar had allegedly asked legislators not to proceed with the plans, Priyank said, "How did you get this information? As far as I know, no one has called the legislators."