Bengaluru-Mysuru: All hopes of ministerial aspirants about an imminent expansion of the cabinet were dashed when Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, on Thursday declared that the exercise would be undertaken only after the return of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi from the United States.
Speaking to reporters after meeting party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi, Mr Siddaramaiah said: “I did raise this issue with Mrs Gandhi, but she told me that this issue can be discussed once both party vice president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary, Digvijay Singh, return from their respective foreign tours.”
Answering a question, he queried “How can I fix any deadlines when the leaders concerned are not available here. We will see when they come back,” adding that he briefed Mrs Gandhi on issues related to drought as well as about recent elections to BBMP.
“I have come to New Delhi after a very long time. As a Congress man, I have come here to meet Mrs Gandhi. We spoke on various issues concerning state politics. Primarily, she was interested in knowing how I am tackling the drought situation. Apart from this, I also briefed her about the out come of recent BBMP polls,” he added.
Meanwhile, reacting to the development, Humnabad MLA, Rajshekhar Patil Humnabad, rued that he had been camping in Delhi for more than week and was forced to return empty handed.
“I had lot of hopes that I will be inducted into the cabinet, but it did not happen. I was here and met every top leader whom I know and urged them that Bidar district, which is at the mercy of an “outsider” woman and child welfare minister, Umashree. She is not from our district, so she is an outsider. Hence, I had thought that I will be able to make it,” he added.
Congress Vice President coming in October
In view of the suicides of several farmers in the state, AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi will tour Karnataka for two days on October 6 and 7.
According to the twitter handle @OfficeOfRG, Mr Gandhi will meet sugarcane farmers in Mandya and undertake a padayatra in Haveri. Another tweet confirmed that he will interact with representatives of panchayats & urban local bodies and address the general body meeting of Karnataka PCC. Speaking to DC, a senior leader said, Mr Gandhi will be arriving on October 5 evening. On October 6, he will visit Mandya where he will meet bereaved family members of farmers who committed suicide. “Mr Gandhi is coming to Mandya and Haveri to console the grieving families. The farming community feels they are facing serious problems due to the BJP-led NDA government's policies which have failed to take proper care of them,” the source said.
The source added that Mr Gandhi would be meeting senior leaders in these two days separately to take stock of party activity as well as the functioning of the state government.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Krishna Byregowda, visited drought hit areas in Mandya and Chamarajnagar and the family of a farmer who committed suicide in Mandya. The visit is part of his state-wide tour to review drought relief programmes and distribute ex-gratia among bereaved farmer families. He also plans to review the implementation Krishi Bhagya and Krishi Yanthra Dhaare.
