Yeshwanthpur Congress legislator ST Somashekar had called for a meeting of "like-minded" MLAs on April 30 to seek their suggestions and find a solution to the present political situation in Karnataka.
Bengaluru: Amid coalition worries, Congress legislator ST Somashekar stands determined to hold a meeting with "like-minded" Congress MLAs to find a solution to the present political situation in Karnataka.
The MLA's letter had come amid worries within the ruling Congress-JDS coalition and rift in the Congress surfacing again.
According to reports, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal reportedly spoke to Somashekar and urged him to drop the meeting stating, "this is creating a wrong impression". Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah had also spoken to the Congress MLA regarding the same.
Speaking exclusively to MyNation, Somashekar said, "Ask KC Venugopal whether he spoke to me about dropping the concept to hold a meeting of the Congress MLAs. I am going to hold the meeting in the next two days. Come what may, there is no question of cancelling this meeting."
When asked if the Congress MLA is unhappy with the present coalition government, Somashekar said, "What is the point of holding a party meeting if I reveal everything now? Then why should I hold the meeting? Let the meeting happen, and all will be revealed."
On Monday, Congress spokesperson Kengal Shreepada Renu had said that it is just a meeting of MLAs for the development of their constituencies, and that the meeting has nothing to do with the government's alleged instability.
Reacting to this, BJP MLC Ashwathnarayana said that the meeting is not called for the allocation of funds as Somashekar does not have authority to allot funds. He further said that it is the deputy chief minister, who should call for an 'all-party' meeting of the MLAs.
After the meeting was cancelled on Tuesday, Ashwathnarayana said that the real culprit behind this meeting is Siddaramaiah. If MLAs were called keeping the long-pending development work as the agenda, deputy chief minister G Parameshwara or chief minister Kumaraswamy should have called for the meeting, not Somashekar. He further said that this meeting is called to divide the government.
However, MLAs are currently busy with Kundgol and Chincholi Assembly by-polls, which are set to be held on May 19. April 29 was the last day to file nominations. "Since the MLAs were occupied, we cancelled the meeting, which was initially scheduled on April 30," said Somashekar.
The results will be declared on May 23, along with the Lok Sabha election results.
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