To sack or not to sack? Karnataka CM in a bind

BENGALURU: A day after excise minister H Y Meti’s exit after a CD in which he was caught in the act with a his distant-relative and masseuse, Vijayalaxmi, made its way to television channels, a group of Congress legislators reportedly requested Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to dump tainted ministers in order to salvage the image of the government, setting off speculation over a reshuffle of the cabinet.

On Thursday, the legislators told Mr Siddaramaiah that the ruling party could no longer portray itself as “a party with a difference” as the party had lost the moral edge over the BJP which suffered acute embarrassment when three ministers quit after being caught watching a porn climb on a mobile phone inside the Legislative Assembly.

“How can we face the people who are livid with leaders of all political parties?” was one question which these legislators reportedly posed to their leader, each with the heart in their mouth as RTI activist Rajashekar Mulali has warned about more CDs of legislators caught in the act likely to surface shortly.

They felt a thorough cleansing of the ministry would send across a strong message to people that the tainted were not spared, and buoy the party’s party’s prospects ahead of polls to the Legislative Assembly in 2016, according to sources in the party.  

The impact Mr Meti’s sex scandal was so overwhelming that a senior leader from north Karnataka told Deccan Chronicle it would be most appropriate for the party to put off the rally scheduled to be addressed by vice president Rahul Gandhi in Belagavi on December 17.

Some leaders, however, felt a damage-control exercise could be next to impossible as Mr Siddaramaiah and KPCC president G Parameshwar were at loggerheads. A senior minister said Mr Siddaramaiah could have prevented the release of Mr Meti's CD by giving the RTI activist an audience.

The CMO reportedly denied entry to the RTI activist and Dr Parameshwar, too, reportedly shooed him away.  Mr Siddaramaiah underestimated the reach of a RTI activist and paid a heavy price. Some deft handling of the situation would have definitely saved the party from such embarrassment. Besides, the Chief Minister knew about the sex CD a month ago but did nothing to demand his cabinet minister's resignation before it became public, he added.

Another senior Congress leader opined that if Mr Siddaramaiah was really serious about saving his government and party from further embarrassment, he must instruct a couple of ministers —who were under the radar of officers of Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate owing to their proximity to two top tainted officers, T N Chikkarayappa and Mr S C Jayachandra, to quit.

The party could face acute embarrassment in case these ministers were interrogated by officers of the Enforcement Directorate on the eve of Mr Rahul Gandhi's visit to Karnataka, the leader added.