Waiting for Sonia Gandhi, Mandya presents theatre of the absurd

While preparations for the forthcoming visit of Congress president Sonia Gandhi to the sugar bowl of Karnataka are at full swing, a divide in the Mandya district Congress ranks has prompted the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) to bypass it and take over the show.

Though it is normal for Pradesh Congress Committees to oversee the preparations during the visits of Sonia Gandhi anywhere in the country, special caution has been exercised by the KPCC for her Mandya visit on Monday, following the recent brawl among two warring groups within the party during a meeting held to chalk out plans for her visit.

The party meeting hall had become a battle zone as it was a free for all situation. The workers and leaders exchanged heated words and traded blows at each other.

According to sources in the KPCC, having to suspend the district Congress unit in the backdrop of an important event like the party president's visit is alarming. But in Mandya, the KPCC is apprehensive that things might get out of hand if the district Congress is entrusted with preparations for Sonia’s visit.

Local leaders left in cold
What has come as another blow to the district Congress unit, is the fact that party has limited the roles of all Mandya-based party leaders, including MLAs and MPs in the event.
Their role has been limited to going up to the stage to garland Sonia, only to come back and reoccupy their space among others downstage after that. This includes Mandya MP Ramya, Bangalore Rural MP DK Suresh, and state minister Ambareesh, who will be given no other role to play during the event.

Though the AICC has taken a note of the brawl at the Congress meeting, and the divide and cold war in the party ranks, it has not taken any disciplinary action against anybody, other than quietly sidelining a few leaders of the district, said a party worker.

The district congress president Atmananda said: "There is no divide in the party, but every leader have their following, and it is not uncommon in politics. It is an accepted modus vivendi that the Pradesh Congress will take command of preparations when the top leader arrives in the district. Let us not add undue dimensions to it."

Ever since Rahul Gandhi's visit to Mandya during the assembly elections a few months ago, the AICC has been paying extra attention to Mandya, said a political observer from the region, who did not wish to be identified. The source claimed that it is a strategy to minimise regional parties like the JD(S), which has a stronghold in the Old Mysore area. 

Similar measures could be taken up by the Congress in Mysore, Ramnagara, Hassan and Tumkur, the source added.