Bengaluru: The growing pressure for the Congress party to try and win the Assembly elections has led the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President D. K. Shivakumar issue hegemonic letters to rebel Congress leaders.
A letter dated April 26 was allegedly sent out to disgruntled Former Congress leaders who wished to contest as independent candidates. Although the initial few lines of the letter was not authoritative, the last few lines seems like a warning.
The letter written in Kannada under the letterhead of KPCC was translated to, “As you may be aware, there is a significant upswing across the state in support of the Congress party for the upcoming Assembly elections. The populace has grown weary of the corrupt practices under the BJP’s administration. As a result, the people have placed their trust in the Congress party. The party’s workers are diligently striving to secure a victory for Congress.”
The letter further states, “We know that you have decided to run as independent candidates in the upcoming election. We advise you to reconsider your decision and pledge your support to the Congress party’s official candidates. We urge you to collaborate with our local workers and extend all possible assistance to help our candidates achieve victory. I’m also bringing to your notice that if you do not withdraw from contesting, we will have to take disciplinary measures against you.”
Below these lines was a mention that the letter is addressed to “the rebel Congress leaders who decided to contest in the 2023 elections as Independent candidates”. Although the stern letter was addressed to these independent candidates in general, no names were taken.
With this move, Shivakumar seems to be intending on completely eliminating competition from Former Congress leaders.
According to reports there are about 20 or more rebel Congress candidates who are contesting as independent candidates in their respective constituencies. This has mostly caused a scare among official Congress leaders that their votes could be split in those constituencies.
With this letter, could Shivakumar be threatening these candidates about “disciplinary action” even after the candidates have resigned from the party’s primary membership?