To tie up or not? Karnataka Congress meet tomorrow

Bengaluru: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee(KPCC) has convened an office bearers’ meeting  on Friday, reportedly to deliberate on the issue of forging an alliance with Janata Dal (S) in various Zilla Panchayats and Taluk Panchayats which have thrown up a fractured verdict.

Speaking to reporters, KPCC president, Dr G. Parameshwar  confirmed that the party had convened such a meeting but refused to disclose the agenda. "There will be an office bearers’ meeting on Friday, we are yet to finalise the agenda," he snapped in response to a question.

Meanwhile, a senior leader in the Congress told this newspaper on the condition of anonymity that there is confusion over forging an alliance with JD(S).

"The ZP and TP elections are considered to be an election of grassroot leaders, who will certainly not like their nearest rivals to be partners in power, but the verdict is such that there is no alternative other than having an alliance with them. Though elected leaders will always be eager to form an alliance, defeated leaders will not be able digest this fact easily. Therefore, the party leadership will take the initiative to hammer out these differences. This can be done by convening a meeting,” the leader observed.

Dr Parameshwar also made it clear that the party would not interfere in local leaders’ decision to forge  alliances with ‘like minded’ parties in various ZPs and TPs. "We have already authorised local leaders to discuss this and come back with proposals for alliances," he said.

Reservation matrix for ZP/TP posts soon
The state government is likely to announce the reservation for the posts of presidents and vice presidents in the zilla and taluk panchayats in a day or two.
After much discussion with MLAs and local leaders, the Congress government is getting ready to release the notification. It is almost a month since the results of the ZP and TP polls were announced.  

There is every possibility of elected ZP/ TP members approaching the High Court seeking a direction to the state government to announce the reservation matrix which is why the government has decided to release the reservation list as soon as possible, sources said.

Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department sources told this newspaper that the reservation matrix is almost ready and is awaiting the nod of the chief minister. After getting his nod, the matrix will be published in the official gazette in a day or two.

According to sources, ministers and ruling party MLAs are pressurizing the chief minister to change the reservation to suit their convenience. In some ZPs and TPs where the kith and kin of politicians have won elections, they have prevailed on the CM to change the category to help their relatives come to power in the ZP, sources added.