Surjewala's talks with MLAs are limited to party organisation, not about leadership change: Karnataka Dy CM Shivakumar clarifies

India Gazette

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Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 1 (ANI): Amid mounting speculations of possible change in state leadership, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday clarified that the dicussions held during the recently concluded meeting of Congress General Secretary Randeep Surjewala with party MLAs were not about cabinet reshuffle, but instead it was concerned with organisational aspects of the party.
'AICC general secretaries are meeting to discuss party organisation issues and accept requests from MLAs, but there is no discussion about changing the CM or expanding the cabinet,' Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, said.
While responding to media queries at the KPCC office, Shivakumar said that the meeting was held in context of the organisation of the party since its chief Mallikarjun Kharge has declared this year as the year of organisation. He said that Congress was concerned with giving responsibility to district and block presidents to keep organised.
'No one should worry about this meeting. We are changing district and block Congress presidents across the country, and this meeting is being held in the context of the organisation. AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge has declared this year 'the year of organisation'. Therefore, he has asked the district Congress presidents to fill their energy. Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and the general secretary have called all the district Congress presidents, and a meeting has been held in New Delhi. In this way, all the responsibilities have been given from the construction of the Congress office to the organisation of the party. In Bengaluru, the responsibility of the constituencies where there are no MLAs has been given to each MLA,' Surjewala added.
'Randeep Singh Surjewala has come to provide guidance on organisation, and his suggestions are being accepted. He is trying to bring discipline in the party amidst the statements of some MLAs. Apart from this, there is no discussion about leadership change or cabinet expansion. None of us is in a hurry now. 2028 is very important to us. That is what is important,' he clarified.
As Congress MLA Ramanagara MLA Iqbal Hussain openly backs DK Shivkumar for the Chief Minister post, the Deputy CM expressed disappointment over MLAs speaking before the media and asked them to extend support to Siddaramaiah.
'I will give him a notice myself. No one needs to say that I will become the CM. No one can speak in front of the media. No one should speak in front of the media on this issue, be it Iqbal Hussain, BR Patil, or Balakrishna. Siddaramaiah is the Chief Minister; we should all strengthen his hand,' he said.
Speaking on the allegations of lack of funds for development works and that of corruption by party MLAs, including Raju Kage and BR Patil, Shivakumar said that the Karnataka government has allocated grants of Rs 1 lakh crore in the budget for the same.
'The state government has allocated a Rs 1 lakh crore grant in the budget for development works. Rs 54,000 crore is being spent on the guarantee scheme. Rs 19,000 crore is being spent on providing electricity to farmers. Priority has been given to other development schemes, including social welfare schemes. Isn't this for the development of the people and the sector? The welfare schemes being implemented in our state are not being implemented in any other state.' (ANI)