State JD(S) chief, KPCC president must on coalition panel: A H Vishwanath

Bengaluru: While the rebellion threatening the coalition government has fizzled out,  state Janata Dal (Secular)  president A.H. Vishwanath believes it needs to take steps to avoid a recurrence by nominating him and  Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president to  the coordination committee formed to ensure its smooth functioning.  Speaking to reporters here on Thursday, Mr Vishwanath said that he  believed it was important to induct the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president and the state Janata Dal (Secular) president into the coordination committee for better functioning of the coalition government.

This is not the first that Mr Vishwanath has made the suggestion. When he had first broached it,  it was shot down by former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is chairman of the coordination committee, on the grounds that it had enough members already. Some believe this may have something to do with the fact that although both he and Mr Vishwanath, belong to the same community they have a strained relationship.   The latter left the Congress after a several decades’ old association with it during the Siddaramaiah government, joining some other old timers, who felt sidelined in its affairs at the time, and joined the Janata Dal (Secular).

But clearly not put off by Mr Siddaramaiah’s lack of interest in his suggestion, Mr Vishwanath argued on Thursday that rebellion among the MLAs could be avoided if their party presidents could bring up their concerns for discussion at the  coordination committee meetings. Meanwhile, asked about the Janata Dal (Secular) nominating party leader, Ramesh Gowda to the Legislative Council despite the criminal charges against him, he shot back, “Are all elected representatives in the country  free of charges?”

 Mr Vishwanath, who is also an author, revealed that he  would release his seventh book that dealt with the evolution of democracy in Greece over 2000 years, on Saturday in the presence of  Janata Dal (Secular) supremo  H D Deve Gowda and former Lokayukta, Justice Santhosh Hegde.