Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas M. Veerappa Moily and the former Railway Minister and senior Congress leader C.K. Jaffer Sharief have reportedly expressed their concern to the Congress high command about the admission of ‘opportunists’ who left the party for greener pastures. It is said that the two leaders have written to AICC president Sonia Gandhi advising her not to continue taking in defectors.
Joining senior leaders like the former KPCC president R.V. Deshpande and the former Minister Kagodu Thimmappa, who are opposed to admitting Fisheries Minister Anand Asnotikar and Belur Gopalakrishna respectively, many Congress seniors have urged the party high command not to admit any ‘outsiders’ during election time.
Meanwhile, KPCC president G. Parameshwara has denied the charge made by the Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar that his party was behind the resignation of two of his ministers — C.P. Yogeshwar and Narasimha Nayak (Raju Gowda).
Speaking to reporters, Dr. Parameshwara said that it was the Bharatiya Janata Party which weaned away many MLAs from the Congress under its Operation Lotus exercise to cobble a majority. The Chief Minister should concentrate on setting right his house rather than complaining against other parties, he added.
