Karnataka Legislative Council polls: Many in Congress oppose tie-up with JD(S)
BENGALURU: Realising that the outcome of polls to 25 seats of the Legislative Council would have an impact on his tenure, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday exhorted his cabinet colleagues and legislators to ensure that the party wins maximum number of seats and secures absolute majority in the upper House.
At a meeting of Congress legislature party (CLP), Mr Siddaramaiah said due to lack of majority the ruling party facing difficulties in passing key legislations in the upper House. “From this perspective, it is important to get absolute majority in the upper House. First, you (legislators) sit with district Congress chiefs and select one candidate to contest from your respective districts. Gram panchayat members are not easy to deal with because they were not elected on a symbol. So, it is important to manage them to win the elections,” he added.
Meanwhile, the CLP witnessed strong opposition to the Chief Minister’s move to forge an alliance with Janata Dal (S) for the Legislative Council elections. Animal husbandary minister A. Manju, who represents a constituency in Hassan district, and party MLA K.N. Rajanna (Tumakuru) reportedly opposed the move to join hands with JD(S). Many legislators joined them in expressing the same opinion. They felt it would be good for the party to go it alone. A few even warned that if the party decides to arrive at an understanding with JD (S), they would back rebels in the polls, said sources in the party.
One of the MLAs from Shivamogga asked why the party took a decision to move a motion for removal of Upa Lokayukta Subhash Adi. "We know very well the charges against the Lokayukta (Justice Y. Bhaskar Rao). We do not know the charges against Justice Adi. You have kept us in dark. I request you to share the details so that when we go back to our constituencies, we can inform our voters and defend the government’s decision."
The Chief Minister, who intervened at this juncture, said it would not be wise to share details of the charges. “But he is facing 17 charges. Therefore, we decided to seek his removal too,” he added.
CM presents Rs 6,783 cr supplementary budget
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah placed a supplementary budget of Rs 6,783.51 crore in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday. In the supplementary budget, the state government has released 1,053 crore to provide relief to those affected by hailstorms. For the revenue department the state has earmarked Rs 1,124 crore while for the Panchayat Raj department, the state has sought funds of Rs 1,714 crore.
In the allocation for the health and family welfare department, Rs 18.77 crore has been provided to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Nimhans). An additional amount of Rs 5 crore has been provided for upgradation of Gulbarga Kidwai Pheripheral Cancer Centre. Under non-plan expenditure, Rs 3.5 crore has been earmarked for salaries and '68 lakh has been spent on modernisation of the Legislative Council. A sum of Rs 1.8 crore was released for purchase of 16 new cars for MLAs.
JD(S) leaders too divided on striking alliance with Congress
The question of forging an alliance with the ruling Congress for forthcoming polls to the Legislative Council seems to have divided the Janata Dal (S), or at least its leaders are keen to portray such an impression.
On Thursday, hours after the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) witnessed vocal opposition against such an understanding with Janata Dal (S), a few legislators rushed to patriarch H.D. Deve Gowda’s house to discuss the issue. The dilemma of second rung leaders of the party: who do they stand by as Mr Gowda has spoken in favour of a seat-sharing agreement with Congress while his son and state unit president H.D. Kumaraswamy has opposed such a move.
In fact, the former chief minister even went to the extent of expressing his ire over two JD (S) legislators meeting Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh and lashed out at them for not seeking his consent. Feigning ignorance about the development, Mr Kumaraswamy told the media that legislators met Mr Singh at the behest of Mr Gowda.
Meanwhile, some legislators of the party too voiced their opinion that the party should contest the polls on its own rather than join hands with Congress, according to sources in the party. Therefore, the party would take at least two or three days to decide on the issue.
“It all started with a group of legislators meeting KPCC president, Dr G. Parameshwar with a request for an alliance. Dr Parameshwar cleverly shirked responsibility of offering any assurance, and instead told them to submit the proposal to party general secretary, Digvijay Singh. These JD (S) legislators then met Mr Singh with the proposal, and Mr Singh followed it up by speaking with Mr Gowda over the phone,” sources added.
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