BENGALURU: AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala continued to meet Congress MLAs here on Monday, during his second leg of the exercise. He is said to have hinted at an overhaul in the government that the party high command will likely take up after his feedback.
While MLAs told him they wanted to become ministers during the CM’s likely cabinet reshuffle in November, Surjewala sought their feedback on the party’s organisational strength and preparedness for the upcoming polls to local bodies, sources said. He was also curious about the next Assembly elections and sought their suggestions to bring the party back to power, they added.
Former DCM Laxman Savadi asked Surjewala for a responsibility in the government as he was given prominence when he was with BJP. Talking to reporters, he claimed to have told Surjewala that the CM and DCM are doing a good job. “I also have no issues with ministers as they were responding well to me,” he said.
Former minister B Nagendra, who was removed as minister after the Maharshi Valmiki ST Corporation scam, may have appealed for his reinduction into the cabinet, a source said. Jewargi MLA Ajay Singh, also KKRDB chairman, said Surjewala sought to know the status of the development works in the Kalyan-Karnataka region. “I have been an aspirant for the cabinet berth since 2018, but I did not discuss that with Surjewala,” he maintained.
Indi MLA Yashwantrayagouda Patil said Surjewala’s exercise provided a platform for MLAs to express their feelings. “There are many issues apart from the release of grants, and it’s the prerogative of the CM to decide on cabinet berths,” he remarked. Surjewala met 42 MLAs last week, and is likely to meet 60 of them this time.