No rift with Siddaramaiah, working together: Dr G. Parameshwar

Bengaluru: In a bid to end to media reports about discord between him and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, KPCC president, Dr G. Parameshwar, on Thursday asserted that there were no differences and they were working together fulfilling their respective  responsibilities. 

Speaking to reporters after a three-day series of meeting with party leaders here, Dr  Parameshwar said, “We will tour together and take decisions together. In the last  seven years that I have been PCC president, there have been no differences  between us. We are working collectively and are fulfilling our respective   responsibilities.”

He added that reports doing the rounds about his relationship going sour with  Mr Siddaramaiah and party leader in the Lok Sabaha, M. Mallikarjun Kharge, were “simply false”. “We are all comfortably placed in our positions. I am PCC president, Mr Kharge is leader in the Lok Sabha while Mr Siddaramaiah is chief minister. We are mature individuals who know our job well. We are neither fighting nor  sparring as some media reports have stated,” he reasoned.

In response to a question, he asserted that Mr Siddaramaiah will also be visiting  constituencies of other party MLAs. "Wherever possible, Mr Siddaramaiah will also  be  visiting constituencies represented by opposition BJP and JD(S) MLAs," he claimed. 

Dr Parameshwar  added that the party will launch a series of state-wide  tours, in the run-up to the 2018 assembly polls. "In the first phase, Chief Minister  Siddaramaiah will tour about 124 constituencies, predominantly represented by  Congress MLAs to launch a series of government programmes from December 13.  Following this, a team led by the Pradesh Congress Committee will tour the remaining  100-odd constituencies that are not represented by the party in the current  assembly," he explained and added that lastly, all state Congress leaders  including the chief minister will tour the state from March first week. "Dates are yet to be finalised. It will be a party programme," the KPCC president declared.

He added that the party will most probably begin the process to select candidates in about 15 days by appointing observers. "District in-charge ministers have been  directed to take more responsibility in their respective districts,” he said. 

Answering a question, Dr Parameshwar said that the party's central election  committee will decide on tickets to sitting MLAs and the number of people from  one family who can get tickets. He noted that the report of a survey conducted by the party along with  confidential reports from the district committee is still awaited. “They will all be  considered while selecting candidates,”  he said.