Bengaluru: A day after BTM Layout MLA R Ramalinga Reddy publicly slammed a few Congress leaders for trying to sideline him politically, scores of his supporters held dharnas and rallies protesting against the injustice meted out to their leader by denying him a cabinet berth.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwar who had been accused of being responsible for Mr Reddy missing the bus, claimed that neither he nor RDPR minister Krishna Byre Gowda had any role (in denying a berth to Mr Reddy) as it was decided by Congress President Rahul Gandhi. He dismissed Mr Reddy’s claim as a ‘figment of his imagination’ and said there were many aspirants for the eight available berths.
The party high command will address the issues of those who were denied cabinet berths at the right time, he added.
Sources close to Mr Reddy told Deccan Chronicle that CLP leader Siddaramaiah spoke to him explaining the circumstances in which the names were cleared. Mr Reddy replied that he had never lobbied for a minister's post in the past and was not going to do it in future too. But he was upset for one reason-why the yardstick of senior ministers giving way to first-timers was not made applicable to Dr Parameshwar, Mr George, Mr Shivakumar, Mr Krishna Byre Gowda or Mr M.B. Patil.
Mr Siddaramaiah reportedly did not give a clear reply to this but put the onus on Mr Rahul Gandhi saying he had finalised the list of ministers.
Meanwhile, KPCC working President Eshwar Khandre contacted Mr Reddy from Bidar to inform him that his grievances had been brought to the notice of Mr Rahul Gandhi.
Sources maintained that Mr Dinesh Gundurao, AICC general secretary and in-charge of Karnataka affairs K.C. Venugopal or Dr Parameshwar did not talk to the miffed Reddy.
In the morning, hundreds of Reddy supporters staged a rasta roko near Anekal on Hosur Road for more than an hour. They carried the portraits of Mr Reddy and lay down on the highway.
This held up traffic for more than an hour with thousands of vehicles lined up over a distance of than five km in both directions.
They decided to write to Mr Gandhi demanding that their leader be made minister immediately failing which they have threatened to resign from party positions.
In a related development, Karnataka Reddyjana Sangha President H.N. Vijayaraghava Reddy has urged the Congress to make Mr Ramalinga Reddy a minister in view of Lok Sabha polls. Mr Reddy had been in politics for over four decades and is an important pillar of the Congress in Bengaluru city. Since the Reddy community has a population of 50 lakh across the state, Mr Ramalinga Reddy should be given the Cabinet berth immediately, he said.
