BENGALURU: The alleged role of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Arkavathy layout denotification, the rebellion of Excise Minister Satish Jarkiholi and the poor response to the party’s membership drive reportedly came up for discussion at the KPCC coordination committee meeting here on Friday.
The meeting was chaired by AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh and secretaries Chellakumar and Shantaram Naik. According to sources, Siddaramaiah briefed the meeting on the entire issue of Arkavathy denotification. Home minister K J George, Energy Minister D K Shivakumar and KPCC president G Parameshwara were also present on the occasion.
In response to questions from the AICC functionaries on the issue, Siddaramaiah reportedly said he is “not guilty”.
Maintaining that the notification was done as per the norms and directions of the Supreme Court and the High Court, Siddaramaiah reportedly defended his action in ratifying the Bangalore Development Authority’s proposal on the issue.
Stating that the Opposition BJP and JD(S) leaders are raking up the issue only to tarnish the image of the Congress government, Siddaramaiah said he has set up a judicial panel to probe the issue. He also expressed his desire to table all the relevant documents in the upcoming joint session of the legislature. Defending the government’s decision, he said he would expose the Opposition.
On the Jarkiholi resignation episode, Digvijay Singh is learnt to have advised both Siddaramaiah and Parameshwara to sort out the issue with Jarkiholi. Singh assured that he would intervene if necessary and also would talk to the minister.
Singh also sought a report card on the performance of the ministers regarding the membership drive, party sources said.
The committee also directed Siddaramaiah to complete the process of nominating party workers to various state-owned boards and corporations.