New Delhi: It is now a confirmed news. Former Karnataka chief minister and now Maharashtra Governor SM Krishna will be back to lead the party in the all important Karnataka Assembly elections.
The Congress president Sonia Gandhi has cleared all hurdles for his re-entry into state politics.
Krishna, who was sent to Mumbai Raj Bhawan as Maharashtra Governor in the end of 2004, wasn't at all happy in that ceremonial post.
He agreed to move out just to avoid clashes with his archrival and JD (S) supremo HD Deve Gowda, whose party was a part of Congress led coalition government.
The government was a disastrous experiment.
Krishna is one of the senior most politicians in the country. He entered state Assembly as far back as in 1962 as a Praja Socialist Party (PSP) MLA.
He was elected to Lok Sabha from the same party in 1968 and went on to become a celebrated minister in the state, centre, Assembly Speaker, deputy chief minister, state Congress president and finally Karnataka chief minister in 1999.
Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna is a Fullbright scholar and a US trained advocate and once campaigned for John F Kennedy in the US presidential elections.
The sauve, cultured, articulate Krishna is also a shrewd politician. He has seen many ups and downs in his 46-year long political career.
The 'reluctant ' Governor is now getting ready for the most decisive and crucial political battle of his life. For him getting back into the state politics isn't all that easy.
Three Congressmen from Karnataka M Veerappa Moily (a former chief minister), AICC general secretary Margarate Alva and Union labour minister Oscar Fernandes are putting roadblocks.
All three are chief ministerial aspirants. All three are described as rootless wanderers in Karnataka politics.
According to party insiders they can't win even a gram panchayat election on their own.
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Sonia Gandhi's green signal to party heavy weight Krishna has caused a lot of heartburn among his detractors.
Krishna supporters in the state Congress allege that Moily who led Congress to doom in 1994 Assembly elections is busy spreading rumours about Krishna.
They point their fingers at the dismal performance of these three leaders. Congress won just 36 seats in a 224-member assembly in 1994 under Moily's chief ministership.
Moily lost three consecutive Lok Sabha elections after that. Margaret Alva won just one direct election in her 34-year career. Oscar Fernandes won his Lok Sabha seat in 1996, they say.
Congress high command is taking a calculated risk by sending Krishna back to Bangalore.
Krishna is a Vokkaliga, the second most powerful community in the state.
He is acceptable to other communities, has a vast political and administrative experience.
The high command thinks that he can hold the party together and may unite warring factions within the party.
Past experiences have proved that Krishna is the only tall leader in the party who can take on the wily old fox H D Deve Gowda and the restless BJP.
If the Karnataka Assembly polls are postponed to October, Krishna will most likely exit from Raj Bhawan in mid-March.
If the elections are going to be held in May, he will surely land in Bangalore by mid-February.
People are curiously looking forward to Krishna's second innings.
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