BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah got a shot in the arm after convening the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting as he created an opportunity to establish himself as the top leader with his supporters backing him fully. Also, the MLAs, led by Aland legislator BR Patil -- who had written to the chief minister urging him to hold the CLP, apologised to him for writing the letter.
“The chief minister told them it was not proper to write the letter as it looked like a signature campaign and he would have responded to their request even if they had asked him orally. He told them that the practice of writing letters should stop. Telling him that they did not want to launch a signature campaign, they apologised to both the chief minister and KPCC president DK Shivakumar,” Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara told reporters in Tumakuru on Friday.
The chief minister assured the MLAs that he will meet district-wise legislators along with district in-charge ministers, Parameshwara said.
Siddaramaiah, during his earlier tenure During between 2013 and 2018 too, had resorted to a similar strategy to sort out the differences among MLAs and consolidated his position, political analysts said. This time, too, he has responded quickly to address MLAs’ concerns that ministers were letting them down, they added.
Interestingly, both Patil and former minister Basavaraja Rayareddy, who had signed the letter, are followers of Siddaramaiah. They both joined Congress from other parties.
On Friday morning, former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi met Siddaramaiah. Meanwhile, PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi, a staunch supporter of Siddaramaiah, issued a statement that he is not in the race for the chief minister’s post in the present tenure, indicating that he will back Siddaramaiah as chief minister.
At a time Deputy CM DK Shivakumar said there was a conspiracy to destabilise the government from Singapore, the CLP meeting boosted the morale of Congress leaders and Siddaramaiah, said a senior Congress leader. Siddaramaiah is starting visits to districts from Monday to review the progress, and he is already in Haveri district. His aim is to take control of the bureaucracy amid a cash-for-transfer controversy, as alleged by opposition parties, especially JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy.