Dr G does U-turn, says CM will lead Congress

BENGALURU: In a swift U-turn, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dr G Parameshwar on Monday said that next year’s elections would be fought under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s leadership and not through a team effort as stated by him last week.  

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event organized in the party office to mark the birth anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and late prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastry, Dr Parameshwar  said that party president Sonia Gandhi has cleared the candidature of Mr Siddaramaiah. Therefore, the question of who would lead the party in 2018 would not arise. 

“All Congressmen are loyal and accept the diktat without questioning. When his name is cleared by Mrs Gandhi, and I in my capacity as KPCC president, endorse his leadership, the question of who leads the polls will not arise,” he said adding that the media should refrain from raking up this issue again. 

He insisted that the party and leaders would “wholeheartedly” accept Mr Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister in the event of the party returning to power in 2018. 

“Now onwards there should be no confusion about this matter, as being Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, I am clearing the confusion,” he added.

In the wake of repeated claims by Mr Siddaramaiah that he would lead the campaign in 2018, the KPCC president had issued a counter that next year’s polls would be fought under collective leadership. 

Dr Parameshwar was supported by some veteran leaders who felt the Congress never projected a leader as the Chief Ministerial candidate and always contested polls through collective leadership. 

On Saturday, Mr Siddaramaiah, who offered pooja for the fifth consecutive year to goddess Chamundeshwari ahead of the famous Jamboo Savari procession, said he would continue to do so if given another chance by the party. 

He, however, maintained that the party’s central leadership would pick the leader in case the Congress retained power.

Siddaramaiah bats for Rama Rajya

The BJP may have its Hindutva cause revolving around Ram mandir in Ayodhya, but  the Congress too came out with its own brand of  Rama Rajya here on Monday. Launching ‘Mathru Poorna’ scheme of his government for pregnant women, CM Siddaramaiah dwelt on Lord Rama and Gandhiji’s dream of a Rama Rajya..

Pointing out that Lord Rama was said to be a “Maryada Purushothama” (honourable gentleman), he said  if Gandhiji's Rama Rajya was to become a reality, it had to start from the development of villages. MLC V.S. Ugrappa  said the Ramayana gave a graphic description of the consequences of women being ill-treated in society.  “Rama banished his pregnant wife to the forests for no reason and was later defeated by his own children. Ravana paid with his life for kidnapping Seetha and Vali  died for kidnapping his brother Sugreeva's wife, Tara,” Mr Ugrappa noted. Women and Child Welfare Minister Umashree too joined in to say that women would get their  freedom only if the state became a Rama Rajya.