S M Krishna set to return to Karnataka politics

The Congress in Karnataka is bracing for the return of former chief minister and current governor of Maharashtra S M Krishna to active politics.

Sources in the party confirm that Krishna, who is no stranger to controversy and has made no attempt to fade away into a gubernatorial career sunset, has been given an all-clear by the party high command for a return to active politics.

The Congress plan for Karnataka remains very much dependent on the date of the elections, with the party hoping for an end of the year date. In the meanwhile, it is doing all it can to shore up the caste equations in the state.

While Krishna is a Vokkaliga, the same caste as former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's, the inclusion of a Lingayat, M P Prakash, in the Congress is expected to offset the Lingayat consolidation under B S Yeddyurappa, the BJP's chief ministerial candidate. State unit chief Mallikarjun Kharge is a Dalit and the party hopes it will be enough to counter the BSP's entry into Karnataka.

The party high command has intimated that it would be setting up an election co-ordination committee with Krishna at the helm of affairs.

Former deputy chief minister Sidhharamaiah will be put in charge of a committee to oversee the party's campaign in the state. Former home minister Mallikarjun Kharge, who is the state unit chief, will continue in his present post.

M P Prakash, who has recently joined the Congress from the Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (S), will be given a role in either of the newly constituted committees.

The signals from such a sequence of events makes it plain that the Congress wants no truck with Deve Gowda. "The presence of Krishna effectively means the door has been closed to Deve Gowda," said a source.

The Congress is very much a divided house in the state, with factions owning loyalty to Krishna, Siddharamaiah, former state home minister Mallikarjun Kharge and the new entrant into the party M P Prakash.

Adding to this are former chief minister Veerappa Moily and Margaret Alva, who are against S M Krishna's re-entry into state politics.

All strategising apart, the Congress is hoping that a notification of the report of the delimitation commission will help put off the elections to at least the end of the year. "This will give the party time to offset the sympathy wave in favour of the BJP," said a senior party leader.