BENGALURU: The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting held at a private hotel in Bengaluru on Tuesday saw Chief Minister and CLP leader Siddaramaiah urging ministers and party MLAs to maintain full attendance during the remaining eight days of the ongoing Assembly session.
Sacked Cooperation Minister and Madhugiri MLA KN Rajanna was absent from the meeting, though his son, MLC Rajendra Rajanna, was present. According to informed sources, Siddaramaiah asked legislators to be present in the House to participate actively in debates, defend government policies, and ensure the passage of 34 bills planned for the session. “Legislators cannot absent themselves from the House on the pretext of attending other functions,” the CM cautioned.
Siddaramaiah also addressed the recent controversy surrounding the stampede outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4. The CM said that he was informed about the deaths only at 5.30 pm, about two hours after the incident, and said he would have cancelled both scheduled programmes had he known earlier. “The police were aware of the first death at about 3.30 pm and it was not communicated to me immediately,’’ he said.
Reiterating the party’s communication strategy, Siddaramaiah advised MLAs to counter what he called “baseless allegations and falsehoods” from the Opposition with documented facts and statistical evidence. “Present the data clearly and respond with confidence,” he told legislators.
The meeting, convened to finalise Congress’ approach for the session, was attended by Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara, Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, Science and Technology Minister Boseraju, former minister RV Deshpande, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H. K. Patil, and several other senior Congress leaders.