Tension brews in Karnataka Congress, as MLA confirms of legislators being unhappy

In what could termed as the first official confirmation of not everything being alright in the state Congress unit, a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Congress party, Satish Jarkiholi on Tuesday asserted that some of the MLA's from the state are unhappy and the party leadership is trying to convince them.

Speaking to scribes, Jarkiholi said, "Some of them (MLAs) are not happy. They may not be 25 to 30 in numbers but there are 6 to 7 of them. MLAs are unhappy and our leadership is convincing them."

He also accused the opposition of attempting to create a rift in the party and said, "The opposition party is trying since the beginning to form the government by the support of Congress legislators through horse-trading the MLAs, but as of now there are only 6-7 MLAs who are unhappy and we will convince them."

Jarkiholi also said that he, however, is not leaving the party and claimed to be more powerful than many ministers.

"I had word with our president Dinesh Gundu Rao as well on this issue, the high command is active and our state leadership is working on it. They are not going anywhere and especially I am not going to any party or anywhere else. I am very much powerful than some ministers but yes I have asked for one more ministerial post for Belgaum district. Let us wait and see, everything will be cleared soon," he said.

In May this year, the election result for 222 out of 224 assembly constituencies of Karnataka had resulted in a fractured mandate, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerging as the single largest party with 104 seats, only nine seats short of the simple majority mark of 113.

However, the Congress party with 78 seats and JD(S) with 37 seats, along with two independent candidates, stitched up a post-poll alliance with a total of 117 MLAs.

H.D. Kumaraswamy of Janata Dal (Secular) was sworn-in as the 24th chief minister of Karnataka as he was invited to form the government in Karnataka after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led B S Yeddyurappa stepped down within three days of taking over as the state chief minister, following a fractured mandate of Karnataka assembly polls.