Mysuru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that efforts are on to persuade veteran leader S.M. Krishna to remain in the Congress. “We all need senior leaders and there is no question of sidelining seniors in the Congress,” he said at the Mysuru Airport here on Wednesday.
On the impact of Mr Krishna's resignation on the party, the coming by-elections and 2018 Assembly elections, he said, “We are trying to persuade Mr Krishna to stay on. Even I will talk to him. The question of assessment of impact of his resignation is premature at this juncture."
On senior leaders in the Congress claiming to be sidelined, he said, "There is no question of sidelining any seniors in the party. The party always respects them. We are inviting them for all the meetings, and we are taking their suggestions and opinions. We recently held a seniors coordination committee meeting. Mr Krishna was also there, Mr Jaffer Sharief too participated. They expressed their opinions at the meeting.”
“We need all the seniors and young leaders. We are taking all of them together, irrespective of their class, age and sex,” he asserted.
Meanwhile, KPCC president Dr G. Parameshwar who too spoke about the development, reacted cautiously. “Congress party leaders still believe and strongly hope that former chief minister S.M. Krishna will review his decision. As a state unit president, I have made a request to our party central leadership not to accept his resignation and we will make efforts retain him in our party. So far, we are all making every possible effort to make him understand that he must review his decision. Definitely, I am of the opinion that his resignation is a big blow to our party's vote share. I have also made honest attempts to convince him to review his decision,” he said.
