Congress MLAs push for new state in-charge, immediate reshuffle

Bengaluru: Miffed with Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh’s lackadaisical approach to party affairs in Karnataka as well as his constant rescue act vis-à-vis Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, some ruling party legislators held a dinner meeting here on Wednesday to evolve strategies to demand the scalp of Mr Singh as well as an immediate reshuffle of the cabinet.

This is the first time that legislators have come together to demand replacement of Mr Singh albeit indirectly. They feel that he has too many responsibilities to handle in New Delhi and therefore senior central leaders of the party ought to appoint a new general secretary with a fair knowledge of the state politics. They are evidently upset with Mr Singh for putting off crucial meetings, including the special executive of KPCC, scheduled for April 4. Besides, the leader was scheduled to meet party workers and leaders to elicit their opinion on appointment of the new KPCC president.  

This group had been consistently demanding that “ineffective” ministers be dropped and these vacancies be filled with young and energetic MLAs in order to give new face lift to the cabinet.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a senior legislator said, “Mr Singh has been increasingly getting closer to Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, and his coterie as a result many important matters relating to the party has been hushed up at the top level. Therefore, we want him to be replaced rather than seek anyone’s scalp.”

According to the legislator, Mr Singh had not been of any help to party leaders except Mr Siddaramaiah. “It is a classic case to study Udupi-Dakshin Kannada district law and order situation. Most police officers who were appointed by the BJP government are still continuing to hold posts. And even if they were transferred, these officers are transferred within the same district or neighboring ones. In spite of highlighting such problems, Mr Singh has not acted yet. This is not just the case of Udupi or Mangaluru, this has happened across the state. This is the reason why even Mr Singh had remained in effective in handling the affairs of Karnataka,” the legislator added

According to the legislator, Mr Singh has also not taken any initiative to direct the Chief Minister or KPCC president to fill in vacancies in state owned boards or corporations. “Actually, posts of chairmen were filled in these organizations almost a year ago, but they have not given any fulfledged committee to work. This is another reason why Mr Singh needs to replace as he is way too busy with politics in Delhi, ” the legislator added.

In addition, the legislators also demanded: “All we want is proper representation of region, caste and youngsters must be followed, as this would help Chief Minister Siddaramaiah rebuild the party’s sagging image ahead of elections in 2018.”

According to the leader, the cabinet needs youngsters who can travel extensively ahead of the Assembly polls, at present there are ministers who can not walk up to their offices without some or the other kind of support. “Such ministers need to dropped and in their place youngsters need to be taken,” the leader added.