Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday stepped in to check the spiralling dissident activities of the MlAs of ally Congress, who were unhappy with the Cabinet expansion, and asked the Congress’ central leadership to act immediately to find a solution.
The Chief Minister and several state Congress leaders met the dissatisfied lawmakers, who, however appeared to be in no mood to relent, at least immediately.
Kumaraswamy met M B Patil, a prominent state Congress leader under whose leadership a section of dissatisfied legislators have been holding meetings.
Senior state Congress leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwa, Ministers D K Shivakumar, K J George and R V Deshpande, met M B Patil at his residence to mollify him, but reportedly failed to get a positive response.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Patil, the Chief Minister said though the issue is not directly related to him, he had gone to pacify the lawmakers as the leader of the Congress-JD(S) coalition, for the stability of the government.
“This is an issue that is not related to me, because these are decisions made within Congress party...
I have understood his (Patil) feeling of pain that he has worked for Congress party when it needed, but feels let down now,” Kumaraswamy,who is the leader of Congress-JD(S) joint legislature party, said.
Kumaraswamy said Patil had told him that he was not alone and would take a decision after consulting other like-minded MlAs, adding, “I have gathered his feelings; I request Delhi leaders (Congress) to immediately act to find a solution.”
A group of disgruntled MlAs, including M T B Nagaraj, Satish Jarkiholi, Sudhakar and Roshan Baig, among others, had yesterday met at Patil’s residence.
According to party sources, several such meetings have taken place separately, including one under the leadership of senior Congress leader and former minister H K Patil, as also by Shamanur Sivashankarappa.