BENGALURU: KPCC president, Dr G. Parameshwar, who was of late outwitted by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his supporters within the party, managed to stamp his authority in the presence of vice-president Rahul Gandhi at a meeting of the executive committee of the state unit of the party on Friday.
Though the meeting lasted less than half an hour, Dr Parameshwar managed to dominate the proceedings.
First, he made an oral presentation on his journey as KPCC president. He thanked Congress president Sonia Gandhi for appointing him as the state unit chief, and then explained in short how he evolved a people-contact programme at every stage to galvanise the party when it was in the opposition.
This, sources in the party said, had helped the party build a base ahead of Assembly elections in 2013. He did not forget to mention the names of top leaders including Mr S.M. Krishna, Mr Siddaramaiah and Mr Mallikarjun Kharge for extending full support to him.
“That’s why we could make it in the 2013 Assembly elections,” sources said quoting Dr Parameshwar. In the second leg of his speech, he warned party workers and ministers who failed to co-operate with him to complete the membership drive.
“In the presence of Rahulji, I am cautioning you. If you do not achieve the target and help the party widen its base, we will take action. The disciplinary action will be recommended by Rahulji himself,” Dr Parameshwar added.
Mr Gandhi who also spoke briefly said that only way the party could become successul was through people’s contact programmes. “You solve the workers’ pain, they work for you,” he said. In fact, he mentioned how RSS works for the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“We do not have such a system here. And in every election, for every candidate, we will have four rebels from our side. This should not happen. The forthcoming taluk and zilla panchayat elections must be a model for us. We should unitedly fight and win the elections,” he added.
