BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s series of meetings with ministers and party MLAs is helping the party iron out differences among leaders, especially with the Lok Sabha polls just eight months away.“The chief minister has been instructing ministers to work in coordination with us while taking certain decisions, including transfer of officers in our assembly constituencies, and to ensure the five guarantees reach the beneficiaries. He asked us to be patient until Lok Sabha polls, for the release of additional funds,” a senior Congress MLA who attended the meeting told The New Indian Express.
He promised there will be no shortage of funds for works like drinking water supply and major district roads, which will be taken up on priority, the MLA said.According to informed sources, the chief minister also suggested that MLAs report to him directly if something goes wrong in their constituencies. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar also advised them to set aside differences.On Wednesday, Siddaramaiah met district ministers and MLAs of Mandya, Kodagu, Hassan and Ramanagara, Danavagere, Bengaluru Rural, Chamarajanagar and Chikkaballapura districts.
Ajay Singh skips Gruha Jyothi launch
Former chief minister Dharam Singh’s son and three-time Jewargi MLA Dr Ajay Singh has been sulking as he was denied a cabinet berth. He did not take part in the launch of ‘Gruha Jyothi’ at Kalaburagi on August 5.In fact, he was abroad then, but on Tuesday attended a meeting of Kalaburagi leaders held by Siddaramaiah, with district minister Priyank Kharge. But his absence at the launch of an ambitious government programme on his home turf has given rise to rumours that the Bharatiya Janata Party is zeroing in on him, said a leader who claimed that the saffron party has been attempting to snare the family for years, but Dharam Singh’s wife Prabhavathi has advised her children not to switch parties.
Both Ajay and Priyank are three-time MLAs, and the latter has been minister thrice and now chairs the cabinet sub-committee on implementation of Article 371(J) for Kalyana Karnataka region. The government may consider Ajay to chair Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board, sources said.
His older brother Vijay Singh lost from Basavakalyan on a Congress ticket, and brother-in-law lost from Bidar South as a rebel candidate, which irked the high command, a leader said. If the rift between the Kharge and Singh families prevails, it may prove a hurdle for the Congress in Kalaburagi Lok Sabha constituency.