BENGALURU: Karnataka Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara on Friday said that the Congress high command has hinted at sacking those ministers who fail in their task of ensuring a Congress win in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala, who attended a crucial party meeting in Bengaluru on Wednesday, had hinted at a cabinet reshuffle in the state after the Lok Sabha polls.
Speaking to reporters upon his return from Delhi after attending the brainstorming session convened by the top brass, Dr Parameshwara clarified that the high command has instructed the 28 ministers who have been appointed as the coordinators of each constituency to take the task given to them seriously. When asked if heads would roll if the ministers fail in their task, Dr Parameshwara said, “The high command has spoken on those lines as well”.
If the party candidates lose from the LS seats where the party has the potential to win, the high command is likely to come to a conclusion that the minister concerned (the coordinators) have not worked promptly, he said.
The Congress has formed five clusters in the country for the Lok Sabha polls and states like Karnataka, Telangana and Kerala are in the first cluster. “Leaders from this first cluster were invited. We were given specific instructions on how to campaign and what steps to take after selection of candidates. Earlier, an observer used to be appointed for each constituency and this time he has been called a coordinator and the war room has been renamed as a connect centre,” he said.
Party general secretaries KC Venugopal and Surjewala, and national coordination chairman Shashikant Senthil explained the strategy, he said. All the ministers should work directly with the national coordinator through the connect centre.
Surjewala to hold PEC meeting
Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara said that the brainstorming meeting did not discuss the candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. “It was only about election strategy. We have asked to finalise the names of the candidates and release the list as soon as possible,” he said. Surjewala is likely to call a meeting of the Pradesh Election Committee (PEC) in Bengaluru in 2-3 days and will discuss candidate selection. He will convey the decisions taken at the PEC to the Central Election Committee (CEC) of the party, Dr Parameshwara added.