Bengaluru: Seemingly upset over Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy not fully accepting the Congress party's list of appointees to state-run boards and corporations, the coalition’s co-ordination committee chairman, Siddaramaiah on Monday declared that he would ask him (Mr Kumaraswamy) why he hasn't cleared those appointments.
By stating this, he has made it amply clear that the Congress may not budge from its stand, even if the JD(S) takes an adamant stand over clearing these appointments.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Siddaramaiah said, "The list was cleared after discussing it with party central leaders in New Delhi and we can speak and resolve this issue."
While playing down the issue, Deputy Chief Minister, Dr G. Parameshwar said that Mr Kumaraswamy has not rejected any name recommended by the Congress as there were many issues involved before clearing these appointments.
"I am ready to speak with him at the earliest on this issue. Merely not approving the appointments does not mean that the list has been rejected or questioned. We need more time to speak with him about this," he said and quickly added that the list was cleared after a detailed discussion with Mr Siddaramaiah and Congress party central leaders.
In response to a question, Dr Parameshwar said that he was pretty confidant that Yeshwantpur MLA S.T. Somashekar's supporters will not do anything that will damage the party prospects.
Meanwhile, playing down the entire issue, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee(KPCC) president, Dinesh Gundurao asserted that the party would not like to comment about this on a public platform, instead it would like to resolve the issue amicably.
"I wish to clarify one thing categorically that the Congress has not violated coalition dharma by announcing this list. This was part of our share, to which we have legitimately laid claim. But I do not know, what exactly has transpired in this entire episode. I am confidant that we will find an appropriate solution for this after discussing the details with JD(S) leaders," he said.
According to the coalition arrangement, both parties had decided to fill up posts of chairpersons to 30 boards and corporations, of which 20 will be for the Congress and 10 for the ruling JD(S). The JD(S) is yet to appoint its legislators as heads to boards and corporations and remaining post of parliamentary secretaries.
Out of Congress' recommendation of nominees to 19 state-run boards and corporations, the chief minister, after much delay, issued orders on Sunday for appointment of 14 chairpersons, and eight legislators as parliamentary secretaries against the party's list of nine.
