Kalaburagi: Congress MLA from Chincholi Dr Umesh Jadhav, who had holed up in Mumbai for over a fortnight, returned to his constituency on Thursday and revealed he would decide on staying on with the Congress or quitting it after consulting his supporters.
Dr Jadhav, who was reportedly in Mumbai with a few other dissident legislators, returned to Chincholi ostensibly to take part in the birthday celebrations of his father, Gopaldev Jadhav.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, he claimed that he had skipped the Congress Legislature Party meeting as he was otherwise occupied.
“I had gone to Maharashtra to meet our Guru Ramarao Maharaj and so could not attend the CLP meeting which was convened at short notice,” he maintained.
Strongly refuting rumours of his joining the Bharatiya Janata Party in return for Rs 50 crore in cash and a ticket for the Lok Sabha election, he insisted he was not interested in making money.
“I was selected through the UPSC and was getting a handsome monthly salary of three lakh rupees. If I wanted to I could have made enough money from the Central service. But I quit it to join public life. I work 24 hours a day for people’s welfare. There are few honest men like me in the Congress,” he added. But Dr Jadhav admitted he was not happy with the functioning of the coalition government in the state.
“I have brought the problems of my constituency to the notice of my party leaders many times , but have been disappointed with their response. So I left leaving my phone behind," he said.
Reacting sharply to minister for social welfare, Priyank Kharge’s comment that if he wanted to quit the party he should do so quietly without blaming anybody, he said, “It is because of the attitude of leaders like Priyank Kharge that the strength of the Congress party has been reduced from 500 to 40 in the Lok Sabha. I am still in the Congress but he instigated Congressmen to stage a protest in front of my house and claimed I had been bought over for Rs 50 crore by the BJP. But Gopal Rao Jadhav’s son cannot be bought!"
