How DK Ravi case has split Karnataka Congress wide open

If a popularity poll had been conducted in Karnataka on March 15 (a day before the IAS officer DK Ravi's death) to gauge how popular Siddaramaiah is and the same was conducted today, one can bet the rankings would plummet. The chief minister has left no stone unturned to convince the man on the street in his state that his government has something to hide, which is why it is so adamant over not handing over the probe into Ravi's death to the CBI.

But it is not as if the entire Congress leadership and his cabinet is blind to the perception on the ground. In fact, the Siddaramaiah cabinet was split down the middle over the decision when it met on Thursday afternoon. On one side was the lobby led by home minister KJ George and energy minister DK Shivakumar which was opposed to a CBI probe. They were supported by other Siddaramaiah loyalist ministers like Srinivas Prasad, Mahadeva Prasad and Qamar ul Islam. The argument was that a CBI probe could lead just about anywhere and things could get out of hand. And two, the CBI reporting to a BJP government at the centre, could leak information that could embarrass ministers who have links with real-estate lobbies.

On the other side of the divide were tourism minister RV Deshpande, health minister UT Khader and law minister TB Jayachandra. They argued for a CBI probe, asking why should the government bat on the back foot.

The ministers from Bangalore too are not happy with the manner in which the government is being seen as stonewalling demands from the family for a CBI probe. This lot includes Ramalinga Reddy, Dinesh Gundu Rao and Krishna Byre Gowda which feels this will have an adverse effect when Bangalore civic polls are held later this year, especially given how the city has reacted offline and online to the death of the IAS officer. They also realise that the BJP, JD(S) and even the Aam Aadmi Party have jumped into the fray, organising protests and polarising opinion against the Congress in Bangalore.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief G Parameshwara - the perennial disgruntled CM aspirant - is playing his own politics. Arguing in favour of a CBI investigation, his hope is that if the case investigation points a needle of suspicion at some top guns, a momentum can be built up and subsequently scaled up to even remove the CM. Clearly, the issue has metamorphosed into a battle for political one-upmanship in Karnataka Congress.

The high command with its weak backbone of just 44 MPs is not in a position to impose its writ on Siddaramaiah. So it is content making all the right noises because it can neither antagonise the CM nor go against the moneybags in Karnataka who are not in favour of a CBI probe. Remember, Karnataka is the only big state the party rules at the moment.

So while the latest development has divided the Congress into different camps, the CM hopes to get a preliminary CID report at the earliest and hope the issue dies down soon. However, most think the Congress has committed political suicide by the manner in which it has handled DK Ravi's "suicide".