Not many to do a G.K. Vasan in Karnataka

Bengaluru: It seems there is no one who is interested in emulating rebel Congress leader G.K. Vasan in Karnataka who has deserted the party and decided to launch his own outfit!

At least, there is no Congress leader who can boast of being bold and straight forward on sensitive issues, leave alone critically assess the performance of AICC president Sonia Gandhi and vice president, Rahul Gandhi following the humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

But the majority of Congress leaders and workers admit, albeit privately that both leaders have lost the plot and lost popularity too. One of the younger Congress MLA made a telling comment. "

We can understand that there was heavy anti-incumbency which worked against us in the parliament elections, so we lost badly. However, the shocking fact is that, even after the drubbing, our leaders do not want to change their style of functioning.

They are not transparent, do not come before the media  and discuss issues and are not keen on discarding some of the deadwood inside the party. This annoys us," the leader said.

Asked whether anyone would dare to rebel or quit the party in the state, most leaders responded negatively. "We have seen what happened to former chief ministers late S. Bangarappa and B.S.

Yeddyurappa when they formed their own regional parties. In Karnataka, regional parties cannot grow beyond a point. The Janata Dal (S) has some roots but that is restricted to the Vokkaliga heartland. 

So no Congressmen will dare to do what Mr Vasan did in Tamil Nadu. Moreover, we have a Congress government doing well in Karnataka, why should we risk anything now?" this leader wondered.

Based on reactions to the questions on the performance of Mrs Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, the Congress leaders could be categorised into three groups.

The first comprises hardcore loyalists, the second category has a large number of leaders who are critical of the Gandhis but refuse to come on record fearing the consequences as they do not have much standing of thier own.

Congressmen in the third category are those who want Mrs Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka Gandhi to come to the forefront and take over the leadership to rejuvenate its prospects.

But, these leaders too did not have a convincing answer to present when asked whether she could pull it off for the Congress in spite of her husband Robert Vadra getting involved in controversies.