Bengaluru: After senior leaders, R. Roshan Baig and Ramalinga Reddy, it is now the turn of deputy chief minister, Dr G. Parameshwara to turn the heat on former Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah who many in the Congress believe was responsible for party's debacle in the Lok Sabha elections in the state.
In a day filled with backroom diplomacy, Mr Siddaramaiah and KPCC president, Dinesh Gundu Rao, are reported to have met former MLA, K.N. Rajanna, who has been consistently bad-mouthing the deputy chief minister in public and persuaded him to apologise to him. But going by sources, Dr Parameshwara was not mollified.
The deputy chief minister is reported to drawn attention to the comments of Mr Rajanna , a staunch loyalist of Mr Siddaramaiah, during a discussion between the two men on the complaints of a few Dalit leaders that some Congressmen had worked with his blessings against their community's candidates like senior leaders, M. Mallikarjun Kharge and K.H. Muniyappa in the Lok Sabha poll.
When a disturbed Mr Siddaramaiah invited Dr Parameshwara home to discuss their complaint with him, he is reported to have informed him that his silence on Mr. Rajanna's statements had given the impression that he was anti-Dalit. He also demanded to know why no action was taken against the former MLA, when Mr Baig was in the dock for his comments against the CLP leader, according to sources.
A heated argument is said to have followed over Mr Siddaramaiah supporters allegedly damaging the party's image. Under pressure to act, Mr Siddaramaiah then summoned Mr Rajanna and took him to task for his comments on Dr Parameshwara. KPCC president, Dinesh Gundu Rao too is said to have cautioned him against issuing any statements against the deputy chief minister.
Mr Rajannna finally gave a written apology to Dr Parameshwara, who was however, not in a forgiving mood, according to sources. When contacted, Mr Siddaramaiah's office denied that any such incident had taken place.
