Bengaluru: Congress Leader B. K. Hariprasad has created an opportunity for himself by attacking Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and emerged as the leader of his backward Idiga community.
Political observers say that he can lead the anti-Siddaramaiah camp within the Congress by bringing together those who have lost their ministerial berths, including Deputy CM D. K. Shivakumar, who has been deprived of the Chief Minister’s post.
He has been empowered to take on Siddaramaiah, who advocates the interests of backward classes through the Ahinda movement, and has come in close contact with the community in the coastal region where he campaigned extensively during the assembly elections.
But it remains to be seen whether 68-year-old Hariprasad will emerge as a prominent leader of the Idiga community, who do not have leaders like Former Chief Minister late S. Bangarappa or Former Lok Sabha Member late R. L. Jalappa.
Hariprasad is being supported by Pranavananda Seer of the community for his remarks against Siddaramaiah, whose influence has spread not only in Karnataka but across South India, as a substantial population of the community remains in Kerala as well.
But political analysts have said that Hariprasad may not be able to retain that power as he does not have a history of winning elections.
He lost from Gandhinagar in Bengaluru in 1983 and could not win two Lok Sabha elections, including the one from Bengaluru South in 2019. Hariprasad, a five-time Rajya Sabha member, recently shifted to state politics and became the leader of opposition in the Legislative Council. But after the Congress came to power, he was kept away by denying him a ministerial berth. This is an indication that their era is over,” a Congress leader said.
But Hariprasad has given a message to wait and watch how things go in the coming days!