The J H Patel government has come under tremendous pressure from within to dissociate itself from former Prime Minister Deve Gowdas camp in the Dal, as the Congress has decided to extend all help to the Hegde-Jalappa duo to wean the government their way.
The leak in the Dal legislature party has begun with one associate MLA Shivananda shifting to Lokshakti and another eight waiting to do the same said a senior leader of Lokshakti. He said the ruling Dal has 113 MLAs and it is being supported by 11 associates and five MLAs from the KCP. By the time the state legislature meets, for a month-long session by the end of the month, he said we will ensure at least ten associate Dal MLAs walking out on Patel to make matters worse for the Chief Minister.
The efforts of the Hegde-Jalappa duo, who together command almost two third support in the JDLP, got a booster dose when AICC president Kesri instructed his state unit to cooperate with their efforts. KPCC president Dharam Singh has predicted the fall of the Patel ministry in the very near future.
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Dharam Singh has said that we will extend all cooperation to see Hegde-Jalappa duo effect a major surgery on the Dal government in the state.
As if to keep the duo at bay, J H Patel has asked his newly appointed political secretary to meet all the party legislators individually to address their problems at once. The Chief Minister also sent out strong signals to the anti-Gowda group by sticking to his public stance that RJD of Laloo Yadav should not be barred from being a part of UF. and it would be the prerogative of the PM to keep the RJD ministers in his cabinet. This statement, which runs contrary to the Gowda line, gladdened the hearts of many in the JDLP. But the anti-Gowda leadership saw in Patels statement a ploy to confuse rivals. Patel took yet another step, albeit unusual, to appease Gowdas detractors when the Chief minister decided against meeting the former PM though the latter was staying next door for two full days.
According to a senior cabinet colleague of Patel, the Chief Minister may not make up his mind immediately as he hopes events in Delhi would overtake the political ploys of his adversaries in Karnataka. He said when it comes to the crunch he may go with the Hegde-Jalappa group rather than sinking with Deve Gowda whose strength in the state is shrinking by the day.