Congress tells MLAs to be poll ready

Bengaluru: A day after the 14-month coalition government lost the trust vote, senior Congress leaders took a decision to send out an alert to party legislators to head to their home turf and get ready to face mid-terms polls, on Wednesday.  

CLP leader, Siddaramaiah, KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao, KPCC working president Eshwar Khandre and former deputy chief minister Dr G Parameshwar, who met to discuss strategies in the wake of the government losing the trust vote on Tuesday, felt that party legislators ought to connect with their voters instantly, rush aid to farmers in distress, and expedite completion of developmental projects in their constituencies as mid-term polls could be inevitable if the BJP and rebel legislators of Congress and JD (S) fail to work as a team. Besides, these leaders also decided to strengthen local units in Old Mysore region, considered the bastion of  JD (S), ahead of forthcoming local body elections.  

The leaders discussed issues such as disqualification of rebel legislators, election of leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, and the question of countering caretaker Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy from gaining advantage by playing the "victim card" The leaders, however, felt the question of whether to continue the alliance with JD (S) or not should be dealt with by top central leaders of the party.

A leader told Deccan Chronicle on the condition of anonymity that most leaders felt the BJP government, formed with the support of rebels, would not last long and therefore Congress legislators should spend all their time in their constituencies in order to be prepared for mid-term polls. The leader said at the meeting, state unit leaders felt they should wait for response from JD(S) on whether they are interested in continuing the  alliance with Congress.