Drama around allocation of residence: Pointer to deeper fissures?

The tug-of-war that has been playing out over allocation of an official residence to Transport Minister Byrathi Suresh seems to point at a larger play within the Congress, and specifically the AHINDA politics of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Former Minister H.C. Mahadevappa being rather unceremoniously asked to vacate his official residence to make way for Mr. Suresh, and the demolition of a portion of the residence, has brought to fore the bitterness between the two senior leaders. Dr. Mahadevappa has since vacated the Crescent Road residence.

Multiple Congress leaders have blamed Mr. Suresh for the public fiasco and “ill mannered” move that has hurt the senior Dalit leader from Old Mysore region. It is learnt that though the 90-day window to vacate the residence had been completed, Dr. Mahadevappa had sought some more time from Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to vacate it, stating that he did not own a house of his own in Bengaluru. Despite this, Mr. Suresh “hurriedly” moved to occupy the house that led to a public spectacle, it is learnt.

The unseemly episode is seen as one in a series of developments in the inner circle of the former Chief Minister. Party sources said that Dr. Mahadevappa has fallen out of Mr. Siddaramaiah’s favour since the Cabinet expansion under Mr. Shivakumar. 

The legislator, representing T. Narasipur in Mysuru district, had been a staunch ally of Mr. Siddaramaiah as he built a formidable AHINDA voter base involving OBCs, SCs, STs and Muslims over the last two decades. Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara, another Dalit leader, is now believed to have moved closer to Mr. Siddaramaiah. The recent convention of the Backward Classes Federation “ignored him” and had invited Dr. Parameshwara instead, said a Congress leader.

CM allocated house to me: Byrathi

Faced with criticism, Mr. Suresh said that it was the Chief Minister who had allocated the house to him, and that Dr. Mahadevappa wrote to the government on August 15 that he had vacated the house, following which the Public Works Department started renovation work. “If rules permit, let Dr. Mahadevappa stay in the house,” he told presspersons on Tuesday (September 8).  

The fissures in the camp have been running deep with Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi, a Valmiki leader and another staunch supporter of AHINDA movement led by Mr. Siddaramaiah, no longer being identified with him. While he was also not invited to the silver jubilee convention of the federation, he acknowledged that there are efforts to undermine and destabilise the AHINDA movement.

Multiple sources confirmed that Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan, a one-time Mr. Siddaramaiah loyalist is also now out of his favour. The former Chief Minister did not push for his name during the Cabinet expansion.

Supporters of Mr. Siddaramaiah, however, said that the convention was of backward classes and not the larger AHINDA communities. “It was the silver jubilee celebration of the federation. Hence, other AHINDA leaders had not been invited. Dr. Parameshwara was invited as he is part of the government,” a source close to the former Chief Minister justified, even as he expressed anguish on the development around Dr. Mahadevappa’s residence.