Bengaluru: Perhaps for the first time in six-and-a-half years, former chief minister Siddaramaiah was given the cold shoulder by the national leadership of the Congress party when he raised the issue of opposition leader in the legislative assembly during his recent trip to Delhi, according to sources.
Mr Siddaramaiah, who was in the capital to attend a meeting convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, met AICC general secretaries and senior leaders A.K. Antony, Ahmed Patel and K.C. Venugopal to raise the idea of announcing an opposition leader for the assembly, sources reveal. He was clearly keen on assuming the role himself or appointing his nominee to it. But he was reportedly rebuffed and told that the timing for such an announcement was not right with senior leader D.K. Shivakumar being in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate.
Party insiders point out that when Rahul Gandhi was party president, Mr Siddaramaiah was used to calling the shots and getting things done his way. But now with the old guard back, he is finding it difficult to push his ideas, according to them.
“The D.K. Shivakumar issue was just an excuse to avoid discussing the issue of opposition leader,” they said.
However, Mr Siddaramaiah's supporters denied that he had raised the issue of opposition leader in the state assembly with the national leadership, and claimed he had only discussed ways to strengthen the party and fight the coming by-polls with it.
He also advised it against readmitting the disqualified MLAs, according to one of the leaders, who accompanied him on the trip.
