Congress In Shambles After String Of Resignations, Defections By Party Leaders

The Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka, which is on the brink due to a flurry of resignations, suffered another jolt with Karnataka Minister and Independent MLA Nagesh resignation from his minister post on Monday morning

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi. PTI Photo

New Delhi: The recent defeat in the Lok Sabha election doesn’t seem have gone down well with the Congress, considering the internal rifts in the party and series of resignations by party leaders coming from different states. The condition has only worsened after the ongoing struggle of the party in Karnataka to retain its power. With party Chief Rahul Gandhi’s resignation from the top post, party’s condition has further weakened. Karnataka crisis: The Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka, which is on the brink due to a flurry of resignations,  suffered another jolt with Karnataka Minister and Independent MLA Nagesh resignation from his minister post on Monday morning. Another Congress MLA on Monday threatened to resign. Karnataka Minister and Bidar North MLA Rahim Mahmood Khan said he has informed senior Congress functionaries about his grievances and will take a decision after meeting them at Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara's residence. The resignation of 14 MLAs has plunged the government into a crisis. Twelve legislators -nine from the Congress and three from the JD(S) - resigned on Saturday. Telangana resignations: After Gandhi’s resignation, two of his aides namely Uttam Reddy and Girish Chodankar resigned in solidarity with their leader. Uttam Reddy quit as working president of Telangana Congress, and Girish Chodankar, gave up the position of Goa Congress president. With the main opposition Congress rocked by the defection of 12 party MLAs and TDP pushed to the margins, the BJP is making aggressive efforts to emerge as the alternative to the ruling TRS in Telangana. BJP president and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who launched the party's membership drive in Telangana here Saturday, asked the party cadres to enrol 18 lakh additional members to the existing 18 lakh as the basis for strengthening the party in the state. Haryana rift: Unrest was created in Haryana Congress after state party president Ashok Tanwar formed an Election Management Committee, which was later declared as “invalid” by party’s General Secretary incharge of Haryana Ghulam Nabi Azad. Tanwar had on Friday formed the committee for the upcoming Haryana Assembly polls and asked senior state leaders, including former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, CLP leader Kiran Chaudhary to attend the first such meeting of the panel on July 8. Azad said only the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has powers to constitute committees related to elections and state Congress presidents cannot do it on their own. Maharashtra resignations: As Congress leader Milind Deora resigned from the post of Mumbai Congress president on Sunday, senior leader of the party unit Sanjay Nirupam accused him of hankering for a national-level post. The spate of resignations in the Congress party continued on Sunday with Rahul Gandhi loyalists Jyotiraditya Scindia and Milind Deora resigning their posts. With Nirupam’s allegation, the faultlines in the Mumbai unit of party has been exposed. In his criticism, Nirupam discarded Deora’s suggestion to set up a panel comprising three senior Congress leaders to oversee the Mumbai unit till the Maharashtra Assembly polls, saying such a move would "ruin" the party further.