BENGALURU: With his choice for the Legislative Council Chairman’s post being ignored by his own partymen and another MLC installed, Congress legislative party leader and coordination committee chairman Siddaramaiah cut short his visit to Malaysia and returned to Bengaluru on Wednesday night.
Siddarmaiah, who was scheduled to be in Malaysia for five days from Monday, returned three days earlier. Earlier in the day, Congress MLC Pratap Chandra Shetty was elected unopposed as Chairman of the Legislative Council.
Siddaramaiah’s staunch supporter and Congress MLC S R Patil was overlooked for the post to accommodate Shetty, who has the backing of the Congress old guard including G Parameshwara, M Veerappa Moily and Oscar Fernandes. While sources close to Siddaramaiah claim that Shetty’s candidature was run by the former chief minister, many leaders in the party believe that the last-minute choice stunned many, including Siddaramaiah himself.
‘Upper House is now like Karnataka Karavali Council’
Elected as MLA from Badami, Siddaramaiah is expected to talk to legislators who are expressing disappointment. While sources close to Siddaramaiah claim that his early return has nothing to do with the Council Chairman’s election, party insiders believe the urgency is a result of party leaders ‘colluding’ with JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda to pick Shetty as their candidate.
The election of Shetty has come as a surprise to many within the Congress while legislators from North Karnataka have taken offence to the party sidelining S R Patil and JD(S)’ Basavaraj Horatti for the post. Legislators from North Karnataka have expressed disappointment over lack of representation for the region. “The Council is now like Karnataka Karavali Council. This is blatant injustice to North Karnataka that is already suffering due to lack of adequate representation,” said a Congress MLC.
S R Patil, Horatti upset
The swift move to elect Shetty has left 2 frontrunners for the post — Basavaraj Horatti of JD(S) and S R Patil of Congress — hugely disappointed