Vishwanath to KC Venugopal: Siddaramaiah very arrogant, no democracy in party
Bengaluru: Amidst rumours of his quitting the party, veteran Congress leader A. H.Vishwanath has shot off a letter to AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K.C. Venugopal, accusing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of being arrogant and lamenting the lack of democracy in the party.
In his three-page letter sent on Tuesday, Mr Vishwanath warned that like many senior leaders, who were leaving the party, he too might quit if it did not stop humiliating leaders like him.
He also cautioned against making too much of the party’s victory in the recent by-elections, saying it won the two bypolls because the rival party was on weak ground. “The Congress needs to revive itself by being more tolerant within the party frame work. After the appointment of Mr Siddarmaiah as CM, there is growing intolerance and this is resulting in desertion by a large number of senior leaders,” he said.
Not sparing KPCC president, Dr G. Parameshwar either, he accused the committee of not giving enough publicity to the pro-people schemes launched by the ruling party.
“This is nothing but a form of non-co-operation. The KPCC, which should have been the flag-bearer of propaganda for the ruling party, has failed to publish material on several schemes. Besides this, the KPCC has not come up with a plan to attract youth and women who are game- changers in recent times, to the party,” he alleged in his letter.
‘No comments’
Responding to the charges made against him by former Mysuru MP A.H. Vishwanath, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that he had not spoken to Vishwanath on this matter. Answering a query by mediapersons near his residence at Sharadadevinagar in Mysuru on Tuesday morning, Mr Siddaramaiah said, “Neither has Vishwanath spoken to me, nor have I spoken to anyone. “No comments” was his response when asked about Vishwanath complaining to All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K.C. Venugopal that he had been shabbily treated by the Chief Minister. “Let the high command decide if my political steps are right or not. And the high command will decide on Mr Vishwanath’s political steps,” he quipped.
CM ignoring us: MLAs
A section of MLAs reportedly expressed their displeasure over the functioning of ministers in general and CM Siddaramaiah in particular for not taking them into confidence while framing policies, during their interaction with K.C. Venugopal on Tuesday. This has been the common grouse against Siddaramaiah and his cabinet colleagues in the last four years. Speaking to DC, a senior legislator from North-Karnataka observed that several MLAs are upset with ministers like T.B. Jayachandra for not handling crucial issues or taking the Land Reforms Bill to its conclusion. “Siddaramaiah and Jayachandra are responsible for the delay in getting this bill passed. This is a pro-people bill, though it was passed two months ago, it has not been sent to the Governor for approval yet,” the legislator said.
According to him there are many such issues that are being sidelined in the party forum. “Ministers do not even inform MLAs or DCC chiefs about their visit to their home districts, which not only irks us but also our supporters,” the source contended.
