BENGALURU: Several Congress legislators from the Kolar-Chikkaballapur region met Chief Minister DK Shivakumar at his Sadashivanagar residence in Bengaluru on Sunday, triggering speculation over fresh differences within the ruling party.
Former minister MC Sudhakar, KGF MLA Roopakala M Shashidhar, Mulbagal MLA Kothanur Manjunath, Bangarpet MLA SN Narayanaswamy and Bagepalli MLA S N Subba Reddy were among those who called on the CM.
The meeting assumes significance as several issues have reportedly caused resentment among the legislators from the region. Some MLAs are said to be unhappy with the functioning of certain ministers, while differences have also surfaced among legislators during the recent Assembly session.
The visit also comes against the backdrop of a social media post by Congress MLA Pradeep Eshwar, who had criticised the government and targeted former minister and Chintamani MLA Dr M C Sudhakar’s constituency-related issues. His remarks reportedly upset Sudhakar, who is learnt to have raised the matter with the CM. The MLAs’ meeting with Shivakumar also comes amid reported differences involving Minister KH Muniyappa.
The reported differences involving MLA Roopakala Shashidhar and some of the Kolar MLAs have further added to Congress’ unease. The meeting comes days after concerns raised by senior Congress legislators over the functioning of the government.
Meanwhile, Bangarpet MLA SN Narayanaswamy said there was no factionalism in the district and that the legislators had met the CM to discuss development issues.
Narayanaswamy said the MLAs had also sought a probe into alleged irregularities running into hundreds of crores of rupees in the Kolar-Chikkaballapur District Central Cooperative Bank during the tenure of former chairman Govinda Gowda.