BBMP power struggle: How Siddaramaiah had his cake and ate it too!

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah succeeded in prevailing over KPCC president Dr G. Parameshwar, who had been opposing the decision to forge an alliance with Janata Dal (S) with the help of none other than AICC general secretary, Digvijay Singh and AICC secretary, Dr A. Chellakumar on Wednesday.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior leader in the CM’s camp said, “The biggest opposition came from Dr Parameshwar when the idea of forging an alliance was floated by first-time MLAs and close associates of Mr Siddaramaiah last week. Dr Parameshwar was not only sulking but also issued statements to this effect.”

Mr Singh deployed his deputy Dr A. Chellakumar giving him a clear mandate to ensure that all leaders got the message that he (Mr Singh) had given his approval to Mr Siddaramaiah to go ahead with the decision to prevent communal forces from coming to power in  BBMP.

The source said that every leader whom Dr Chellakumar met, expressed grave concern and sounded a word of  caution about going ahead with the alliance with JD(S).

Despite his reservations, Dr Parameshwar was made to attend the breakfast  meeting convened by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday, where again the former reiterated his stand stating that the alliance with JD(S) would prove costly for the party in the forthcoming zilla and taluk panchayat polls which are scheduled within the next couple of months.

At this juncture, both Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Dr Chellakumar asserted that the alliance with JD(S) would be restricted only to BBMP alone, the  source claimed.

Apart from this, Dr Chellakumar insisted that Dr Parameshwar should initiate the dialogue process with JD(S) supremo, H.D. Deve  Gowda as per his instructions. The latter then went to Mr Gowda’s house in Padmanabha Nagar, where he held discussions for nearly 45 minutes.