Karnataka: No confusion in Congress, says Minister Parameshwara

Bengaluru, Jan 9 (PTI) Trying to downplay the dinner politics playing out in the state unit of the Congress, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Thursday ruled out any confusion within the ruling party.

He said there was no need for anyone in the party to be "anxious" in any way, regarding the meeting of SC/ST leaders under his leadership, which has now been postponed.

A meeting of Congress leaders, ministers, and lawmakers from SC/ST communities that was scheduled for Wednesday evening under the leadership of Parameshwara, had to be postponed following instructions from AICC general secretary in-charge of the state, Randeep Singh Surjewala.

The meeting was said to be intended as a preparatory discussion for an SC/ST convention aimed at consolidating community support for the party.

According to sources, the decision to postpone the preparatory meeting came after D K Shivakumar, a chief ministerial aspirant, met AICC general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal in New Delhi on Monday night to discuss party developments.

"The CLP (Congress Legislature Party) meeting has been called, the agenda is still not known...there is no confusion. Where is the confusion?" Parameshwara said in response to a question by reporters about whether the CLP meeting, scheduled on January 13, was aimed at getting rid of internal confusion in the party.

When asked if there was no confusion, why obstruction was caused to the party SC/ST leaders meeting called under his leadership, and was there a trust deficit, he said, "it has been postponed due to various reasons, as AICC general secretary too wanted to participate...where is the question of trust deficit? All this is the creation of the media." Asked whether the meeting had caused anxiety among some within the party and so they complained to the high command, ultimately leading to its postponement, Parameshwara said, "who caused anxiety and who got the anxiety? I don't know. As far as I know no one is anxious and there is no need for it....Have we ever said the meeting will be organised outside the party forum?" When specifically asked whether Shivakumar was anxious about him holding such a meeting, he said, "Has Shivakumar said he is anxious? Both of us were together for the whole day yesterday. We even held a press conference together. He never said any such things..." To a question about whether Shivakumar had expressed his anxiousness to the high command, so the AICC general secretary asked for the meeting to be postponed, Parameshwara said, he was not aware of it.

A section within the Congress feels that the SC/ST convention and Parameshwara's dinner meeting could revive the demand for a Dalit or AHINDA (a Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes, and Dalits) leader to become the next chief minister. This could complicate Shivakumar's prospects if Siddaramaiah steps down after the state budget in March, as speculated. PTI