KOLAR: The revolt that has engulfed the Congress unit in Kolar continues unabated, even after CM Siddaramaiah and DCM DK Shivakumar chaired a meeting with the two factions, headed by Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa and former speaker Ramesh Kumar, and the team comprising Higher Education Minister and Chikkaballapur district in-charge minister Dr MC Sudhakar, legislators Kothur Manjunath (Kolar), KY Nanje Gowda (Malur), and MLCs Nazeer Ahmed and Anil Kumar.
On the condition of anonymity, a legislator belonging to the Ramesh Kumar grouping, said that Siddaramaiah told them that so far, no decision has been taken with respect to the candidate for the Kolar Lok Sabha (Reserved) constituency, and moving for resignation is not correct, and will negatively impact the party. The legislator, however, said that all members insisted upon Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar to pass on a strong message to the high command that the ticket should be given only to a member of the SC (Right) community.
He also said that if the high command decides to issue the ticket to a member of the SC (Left) community, the move will be respected, but the ticket should not be in favour of Muniyappa’s family. He said they are confident that the state leadership and AICC will definitely consider their appeal.
The leader also questioned how it was possible to campaign in Srinivsapura, without the presence of former speaker Ramesh Kumar, who has good hold over the constituency.
On the other hand, a senior leader, a confidante of Muniyappa, said that in the Congress, a person is not important, the party is.
The AICC, after considering all aspects, will issue a ticket to a person, and the team headed by Ramesh Kumar is specifically targeting senior leader Muniyappa, who has worked for the victory of several MLAs and MLCs in the district and also in the state. “What is wrong in issuing the ticket to Muniyappa’s son-in-law Chikkapeddanna, when the party has already issued tickets to several relatives of other Congress leaders,” he asked.
