Congress will be destroyed if Siddaramaiah is replaced, says Lakhan Jarkiholi

Lakhan Jarkiholi, who is an independent member of the Legislative Council, says the Congress will have to fight hard to retain even 40 seats in the 2028 Assembly elections. | Photo credit: FILE PHOTO

The Congress will be destroyed if Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is forced to resign as AHINDA voters will leave the party, independent MLC Lakhan Jarkiholi said in Gokaku on Wednesday.

“If the party high command forces Siddaramaiah to step down as chief minister to make way for another leader, the Congress in the state will be decimated. AHINDA voters who are the lifeblood of the party will move away. The Congress leadership should realize that the votes of these communities are the main reason for the victory of the Congress in 2013 and in 2023 the Congress can hold only these mass leaders who can only vote for Mr. S. It will be an irreparable loss to the Congress if Siddaramaiah resigns as chief minister in view of the current political developments,” he told reporters.

“Unless Mr. Siddaramaiah remains at the helm, the Congress will have to fight hard to retain even 40 seats in 2028,” he said.

Meanwhile, Congress MLAs Vishwas Vaidya and Asif (Raju) Sait have expressed their support for the demand to make Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi the next president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.

At various press conferences, both the leaders told reporters that they felt it would be good for the party to have an experienced organizer like Satish Jarkiholi to lead the party. However, they clarified that they will follow the decision of the party high command.

“Satish Jarkiholi is the most senior, experienced and influential leader of the party. If given the leadership of KPCC in the current political situation, the organization of the party will be strengthened,” said Vaidya.

He said he had no idea that the party high command would call a meeting of senior leaders or a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party on Thursday.

“I don’t have any official information about this meeting. I haven’t received the invitation for the meeting yet,” the MLA said.

Mr. Sait said that if Satish Jarkiholi takes over as KPCC president, the party organization will get more momentum.

“He has the experience of strengthening the party from the ground up. He also has the support of a large number of legislators,” Sait said.

Published – 27 May 2026 19:04 IST