Siddu, Shivakumar to meet Congress high command

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar are slated to visit Congress’ central leadership in New Delhi on Tuesday to discuss key issues concerning Karnataka.

The meeting will be attended by All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and other AICC leaders.

On the agenda will be the fact that the ruling Congress in Karnataka is on the back foot with regard to corruption allegations.

The graft claims by the Opposition BJP and JD(S) mostly focus on illegal money transfer from Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Limited (KMVSTDCL) to private parties, owing to which an officer had died by suicide.

He had implicated the Corporation MD and a “minister” owing to which B Nagendra who had held the Scheduled Tribe (ST) Welfare portfolio was forced to quit. He is in Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody.

Consequently, the Congress high command fears what they see as overreach by the BJP-led Centre. They seek to insulate Siddaramaiah from ED potentially seeking information on release of funds to the ST Welfare Department by the Finance Department, which is headed by the CM himself.

The second issue is the alleged scam in the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA). The Opposition claims Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi received 14 sites of far greater value in lieu of land that she lost in the outskirts of Mysuru, causing massive losses to MUDA.

Several other politicians, real estate agents and prominent persons have been in the spotlight over the same. The BJP and JD(S) hold the CM personally responsible for both “scams” and demand his resignation. They have even planned a ‘padayatra’ (march) to Mysuru over the same.

The AICC leadership is likely to give directions on how to deal with these challenges. Potential rejigging of the Siddaramaiah’s Cabinet is likely to be discussed as a possibility. This would include assigning ministers different portfolios and not dropping Cabinet members, it is said.

However, removal of certain ministers may come up in the future. Changes in the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) may also be discussed.

LS poll results report also in spotlight

A report by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) fact-finding committee which assessed Lok Sabha poll results in Karnataka, which was led by Madhusudan Mistry and MPs Gaurav Gogoi and Hibi Eden is also supposed to come up in the meeting.

Some Congressman had told the AICC team earlier this month that Congress lost Vijayapura, Haveri and other Lok Sabha seats to “adjustment politics”. It is a euphemism for leaders, including sitting lawmakers sabotaging their own party’s candidates and helping opponents and in return getting electoral favours.