Former Minister Tanveer Sait should have sought permission from the party leaders before taking a decision to cede the post of Mayor to JD(S) during the recently held mayoral polls in Mysuru City Corporation (MCC), said former MP and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee’s (KPCC) Working President R. Dhruvanarayan.
Speaking to reporters in Mysuru on Tuesday evening, Mr. Dhruvanarayan, who had also been appointed as observer for the mayoral polls, said the party was trying to convince the JD(S) to support it for the Mayor’s post as per the earlier understanding between the two.
On the day of the polls (February 24), former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah telephoned Mr. Dhruvanarayan and asked him to ensure that the post of Mayor is given to the Congress. When the process of elections had started, KPCC President D.K. Shivakumar too called Mr. Dhruvanarayan and informed him that the JD(S) had agreed to cede the post of Mayor to Congress. Mr .Dhruvanarayan passed on the information to former Mayor Ayub Khan and Tanveer Sait in the Council Hall, but the JD(S) leaders denied receiving any such message from their leaders.
During this period, the voting process had started and Mr. Sait said he had taken a decision to support the JD(S) with a view to preventing the BJP from coming to power, Mr. Dhruvanarayan said.
“Though it is a matter of satisfaction that the BJP was prevented from coming to power, Mr. Sait should have taken permission from the KPCC President or me (in his capacity as KPCC observer) before supporting the JD(S) for the Mayor’s post’’, Mr. Dhruvanarayan said.
Mr. Dhruvanarayan regretted not only the sloganeering against Mr. Siddaramaiah by Mr. Sait’s supporters, but also the press conference convened by former Mayors Arif Hussan and Ayub Khan seeking Mr. Sait’s suspension.
These turn of events had hurt Mr. Siddaramaiah, who lodged a complaint before the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
AICC General Secretary Randeep Surjewala has assigned AICC Secretary Madhu Yashki Goud to go into the issue and submit a report to him. Mr. Goud, who arrived in Mysuru on Tuesday after meeting Mr. Siddaramaiah, Mr. Shivakumar and Mr. Sait in Bengaluru earlier in the day, held a one-to-one meeting with former MLAs M.S. Somashekar and Vasu, besides all the Congress corporators.
He is expected to submit a report to Mr. Surjewala in New Delhi.
