Congress leader and former Minister Satish Jarkiholi on Saturday said he was offered the post of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, but he declined it.
“AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal offered me this position. But I declined it, saying I would not accept such responsibilities for the next five years,” he told presspersons here.
“However, there is no particular reason behind this,” he said. Mr. Jarkiholi had in the past expressed displeasure over not being considered for a berth in the State Cabinet. A few days ago, he resigned from the post of AICC secretary in charge of Telangana. His elder brother Ramesh Jarkiholi is the lone MLA from Belagavi to make it to the State Cabinet.
Speaking at his home office here, he reiterated his wish for working for the socio-economic development of the backward north Karnataka. He stressed that he was not behind political power. He urged the H.D. Kumaraswamy-led coalition government to address regional imbalance in northern Karnataka by implementing various development projects.
“Being a KPCC president means you have to work for five years, organising the party. You have to tour towns and villages, meet senior and promising leaders, and organise the party. I don’t need any position to work for the party organisation. People across the State recognise me as Satish Jarkiholi and not by my position in the party,” he said.
“My focus now is providing adequate representation to Bombay Karnataka and Hyderabad Karnataka. This region is suffering from inappropriate representation for 35 years now. This discrimination should stop and leaders from these regions should be adequately represented,” he said.
“We should now unite and fight against the injustice being meted out to the northern Karnataka region. I am committed to fighting for that cause,” the former Minister said.
