Bengaluru: Feeling cheated by party leaders, Hirekerur Congress MLA B.C. Patil said he has decided not to become a minister and will not allow any leader to come to his door to convince him.
As news of him likely to be left out again when the state Cabinet is expanded on June 12 went viral, Patil spared no words to slam his party leaders for having ‘cheated’ him.
Congress Legislature party(CLP) leader Siddaramaiah had reportedly promised to make him a minister after the Lok Sabha polls and now he too had gone back on his promise, said sources.
"I have decided not to join the Cabinet even if any Congress leader comes to my doorstep. I feel insulted by our leaders. In the name of senior legislators, there is a group of 15 MLAs who always find their place in the Council of Ministers. Other MLAs like me are treated like ‘spare parts.’ Leaders who criticize the Congress party in public are made ministers and I would like to clarify here that I am not making any remark on senior leader, Ramalinga Reddy (BTM Layout MLA)," said Mr Patil.
Explaining his predicament, Mr Patil said he was promised a minister’s post by senior leaders. “During the cabinet expansion, I was called and assured that I would be made a minister in the next expansion. Party leaders have cheated me again. This time, I have made up my mind not to accept the minister’s post at any cost," said the disappointed MLA
Hinting at saying goodbye to the Congress party, Mr Patil said he would take the right decision at the right time.
The June 12 cabinet expansion may see the induction of two Independent MLAs—H. Nagesh and R. Shankar—into the Kumaraswamy cabinet while speculative reports are doing the rounds that former minister Ramalinga Reddy could bag the lone slot allotted to the Congress.
