Operation to replace Dharam gets under way

Until the strings that control the Government are replaced, it doesn't matter which puppet dances to their tunes.

Operation to replace Dharam gets under way
Kharge, H.K. Patil Contenders To Take His Place

Times of India

Bangalore: Chief minister N. Dharam Singh’s innumerable deadlines on ministry expansion and failure to meet them have irked the Congress high command, which is considering replacing him.

In a sudden and dramatic development in New Delhi, the Congress high command on Saturday began considering water resources minister Mallikarjun Kharge and former minister H.K. Patil as probables to take over from Singh.

Kharge’s name as Singh’s successor will be placed before Gowda. If he rejects it, party sources said, a message will go down that he is anti-dalit.

Sources told the Sunday Times of India that Congress president Sonia Gandhi is angry with Singh over his procrastination. The CM has dithered over expansion, though names for it were cleared three months ago. His recent visits to New Delhi to meet the Congress leadership were to seek change of some names. He failed to submit the list of JD(S) nominees, angering the leadership further.

The CM’s Secretariat has dismissed the reports as “gossip”.

Singh is said to have postponed expanding his team on astrologers’ advice. The soothsayers have told the CM that a date after Jan 15 would be best for an expansion.

It is learnt Sonia is perturbed over reports that the Congress image in Karnataka has suffered following neglect of infrastructure by the Singh ministry. The party is said to have obtained intelligence reports. Besides, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s interaction with IT captains is said to have gone against Singh. JD(S) chief H.D. Deve Gowda’s digs against the Congress have only compounded matters.

Sources said Sonia told Singh, when he met her on Thursday: “I’m disappointed over the party image in Karnataka.”

The meeting of senior Congress leaders to discuss the “replacement issue’’ scheduled for Saturday evening has been postponed to Monday.

Sources said Union ministers Pranab Mukherjee, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Oscar Fernandes, besides Sonia’s political secretary Ahmed Patel and CWC member A.K. Antony, have begun execution of Sonia’s proposal.

While Fernandes is in favour of Patil, Azad is exploring possibilities of bringing back S. Bangarappa, who has gone public about is unhappiness in the BJP. Patel is said to be of the view that Singh should be given a six-month reprieve as he is a “team man’’.

“With Shoonya Masa commencing on Dec 15, Singh has little time left for cabinet expansion. If he expands the team, he will have fresh problems from the disappointed aspirants,’’ sources said.