Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G. Parameshwara has come out in support of the demand made by senior party legislator Malikayya Guttedar for a berth in the Cabinet and said that the demand made by six-time MLA was reasonable. However, Dr. Parameshwara hastened to add that accommodating Mr. Guttedar’s demand was left to the party high command and the Chief Minister.
Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Dr. Parameshwara defended Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s decision to include D.K. Shivakumar and R. Roshan Baig in the Cabinet and said that the charges levelled against the two have not been proved and this cannot be equated with Minister Santosh Lad’s resignation. “Mr. Lad resigned on his own, though the party did not ask him to do so,” he said.
Asked whether he was an aspirant to the post of the Deputy Chief Minister, Dr. Parameshwara said that he never aspired for the post and reports appearing in the media were only rumours and there was no basis for them.
To another question, the KPCC chief said that chairmen of boards and corporations would be nominated only after the completion of the Lok Sabha elections. However, the appointment of the chairmen and members of various academies would be taken up now.
Dr. Parameshwar said that the budget would reflect the findings of the party manifesto-implementing committee headed by Defence Minister A.K. Antony.
He said that on February 1, AICC president Sonia Gandhi would address a public meeting in Gulbarga either at the District Police Parade Grounds or the Nutan Vidyalaya Grounds. The venue would be finalised on Monday.
