BENGALURU: Senior Congress leader and former minister Srinivas Prasad quit the Karnataka Assembly and primary membership of his party this morning and declared that “defeating Siddaramaiah (the Karnataka chief minister) in the next election is my mission now."
Hailing from Mysuru district, Srinivas Prasad was a long-time associate of Siddaramaiah and represented the Nanjangud constituency. He was revenue minister in the cabidet but was dropped by the chief minister four months ago, ostensibly to make the ministry more effective.
Since his unceremonious ouster, Srinivas Prasad has been spitting fire at Siddaramaiah whom he described as "Brutus". The ouster was a humiliation at the fag end of a 45-year-long political career, he said.
Another target of Srinivas Prasad in the Congress is the veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge, whose son Priyank Kharge took his place in the cabinet. Srinivas Prasad made much of his Dalit credentials in the Congress, and now Priyank Kharge took that reserved slot.
BJP and JD(S) leaders are now wooing Srinivas Prasad, who wouldn’t disclose his political plans. "I have to discuss it with my supporters and well-wishers before taking a decision. I am not in a hurry," he said.
But on Siddaramaiah and the Congress leadership, Srinivas Prasad was willingly eloquent. The Congress party in Karnataka wa is in the grip of a coterie of six, he said. And they are: