Bengaluru: Before AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh gave his approval for the Chief Minister camp’s attempts to join hands with the Janata Dal (Secular) to wrest the BBMP from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Mr Siddaramaiah on Saturday kicked off a campaign to build consensus over forging alliance with the JD(S) to seize power in the BBMP.
First, he held a series of meetings with his ministerial colleagues from the city and subsequently, he drove down to the KPCC office to meet Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president Dr G. Parameshwar, who was kept out of the game till the last minute.
A senior leader told Deccan Chronicle, “Senior Congress leaders in New Delhi, after they were sounded out on the possible alliance with the JD(S), asked Mr Siddaramaiah to build a consensus among party leaders, instead of taking a decision on his own. That could be the reason why he met his cabinet colleagues and Dr Parameshwar.”
Mr Siddaramaiah reportedly asked both district in-charge minister R. Ramalinga Reddy and Bengaluru DCC president R. Dinesh Gundurao to submit a proposal on the party’s alliance with the JD (S), but both leaders diplomatically suggested that they would readily agree with whatever decision taken by Mr Siddarmaiah and Dr Parameshwar, sources said.
Only then did Mr Siddaramaiah drive down to the KPCC office, where Dr Parameshwar had convened a meeting of newly elected corporators.
I am not aware of alliance, says Dr G. Parameshwar
KPCC president Dr G. Parameshwar on Saturday categorically said that the issue of forging an alliance with the JD(S) was not discussed with him. The issue also did not come up within the party forum, he said.
Prior to a meeting with newly-elected party corporators at the KPCC office, a visibly angry Dr Parameshwar said, “The issue which is being reported in the media has not come up before me or the party forum. When none of the party leaders have been informed about such a development, how can I react to it?”
He quickly added that the party was aware of its position in the BBMP. “If a decision has to be taken on forging an alliance, it will be taken at the highest level in Delhi. Even we will deliberate at length on it,” he said.
Even after a meeting with Mr Siddaramaiah, Dr Parameshwar maintained, “We did not discuss any such issue. Instead, we deliberated on how the party lost in the BBMP elections. Our party lost nearly 20 to 25 seats within margin of 1,000 votes, while 10-15 seats were lost within 500 votes, thus. We primarily discussed where the party failed.”
