Belagavi: Riding high on its recent victories in the Hindi heartland of the country, the Congress seems in no mood to mollycoddle its disgruntled leaders in the state. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, Dinesh Gundurao warned on Tuesday that the party would no longer tolerate indiscipline in its ranks.
Going by party sources, the top brass of the Congress in Delhi had instructed Mr Rao to keep the unhappy elements of the party in check as it did not want to lose the momentum gained in the Hindi heartland by giving in to them.
"Mr Rao made it clear that if disgruntled leaders aired their views in public, they would invite disciplinary action. While he promised to give them a patient hearing within the party, he seemed to want to keep party workers in line with the Lok Sabha elections looming," sources explained
Meanwhile, making use of the opportunity presented by the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting held on Tuesday, many legislators, who were present, reportedly poured out their complaints against the functioning of the JD(S)-Congress coalition government in the state and spoke of their unhappiness at the delay in expanding the cabinet.
The MLAs also wanted more funds for their constituencies and announcement of nominations to various boards and corporations.
Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who chaired the meeting, promised to meet their demands at the earliest, and reportedly assured them that the much awaited Cabinet expansion would take place once the party high command gave its nod.
Later, speaking to reporters, Mr Siddaramaiah dismissed the absence of some party MLAs at the meeting as of no consequence. ''Most of them attended. We have 80 MLAs and 38 MLCs and over a 100 of them were present,'' he said.
He, however, admitted that some MLAs were unhappy as the Congress with 80 members in the 224-member House was not able to call the shots and had to give in to its coalition partner, the JD(S) which had just 38.
"The cabinet expansion will be done as planned," he promised, indicating that it could take place on December 22 after the current winter session of the legislature.
