Belagavi: Protests broke out in Belagavi after AICC Secretary, Satish Jarkiholi was passed over for his brother, Ramesh Jarkiholi once again during Wednesday's Cabinet expansion.
As a large number of his supporters set fire to tyres at the busy Chennamma Circle and protested his exclusion, Mr Satish Jarkiholi said he was shocked at his name being dropped from the list of Ministers at the last moment and would seek a clarification from the party high command. Visibly upset, he held a meeting of disgruntled Congress MLAs at a private hotel in Bengaluru soon after the swearing in of the Ministers. Those present included Mr M B Patil, Mr B C Patil, Mr Vinay Kulkarni and 10 others, most of whom were Lingayats.
A close associate of Mr Satish Jarkiholi blamed Congress leader, D K Shivakumar for his omission , claiming he had worked against him as he had tried to stop the party from inducting Belagavi Rural MLA, Laxmi Hebbalkar into the Cabinet.
But Mr Satish Jarkiholi is reportedly not sure if he should leave the party or wait for a few days and take a final call after more discussion with other disgruntled leaders. Speaking to the Deccan Chronicle, he did indicate that the state would witness a political upheaval within the next few months as a large section of Congress MLAs were upset with the Cabinet expansion. And if his associates are to be believed, he and other disgruntled Congress MLAs could leave the party in protest.
