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Congress emissaries meet HK Patil, hold talks

They also had one-on-one meetings with legislators and later interacted with the group too, according to party sources.

Bengaluru: In an indication that the Congress may have reason to worry, several of its senior leaders, including former Minister, H.K. Patil met on Tuesday to chalk out their future course of action after being overlooked for berths in the recent Cabinet expansion.

Going by party sources, scores of Congress MLAs and MLCs, most of them from north Karnataka, met at Mr Patil’s residence on Tuesday to discuss their grievances.

While those present included Mr Sharanabasappa Darshanapur, Dr Umesh Jadhav, Mr Subba Reddy, Mr Rahim Khan, Mr Eshwar Khandre, Mr B. Narayana Rao,

Chikkodi MP, Prakash Hukkeri, and MLC, Basavaraj Patil Itagi, sources reveal that more leaders like Mr Amare Gouda Bayyapur, Mr P.T. Parameshwar Naik, Mr Tanveer Sait, and Mr C.S. Shivalli are likely to join them.

Former Minister, R. Roshan Baig too has reportedly expressed his solidarity with the group after meeting Mr Patil twice in the last one week.

But fortunately for the Congress, the H.K. Patil group, unlike the M.B. Patil faction, does not appear to want to harm the party and so is weighing its options very carefully.

While the consultations are likely to continue for two more days, it is said the group could take a “drastic step” if it sees no other way out . It is, however, believed that considering the serious differences between Mr M.B. Patil and Mr H.K. Patil, the groups are unlikely to join forces.

Although no representative of the high command met the leaders identified with the M.B. Patil camp, two AICC representatives, Manikyam Tagore and Vishnunath came down to meet Mr H K Patil and held a discussion with him, which appears to have helped. They also had one-on-one meetings with legislators and later interacted with the group too, according to party sources.

Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha member, G.C. Chandrashekhar who met Mr H.K. Patil at his residence, later told reporters he was confident that the legislators would remain with the party. “There is no crisis,” he said.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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