Discontent in Karnataka Cong: Sidda to hold marathon meeting with MLAs

In an apparent move to quell discontent and make the party strong ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections which is less than a year away, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar will hold marathon meetings with ministers and ruling Congress legislators for the next three days, party insiders said.

These meetings with the district in-charge ministers, other ministers from districts concerned and MLAs and MLCs will take place at the chief minister's office residence 'Krishna' from 11 am to 7 pm with a break of two hours from 2 pm to 4 pm, the party office bearers said.

On Monday, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress president, will hold meetings with ministers and legislators from six districts, Tumakuru, Yadgir, Chitradurga, Bagalkote, Ballari and Dharwad, according to the CM's programme of events released by his office.

Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar will speak to 31 ministers and MLAs, devoting one hour to the ministers and MLAs of each district, the communiqu said.

In the next three days, meetings with all the Congress legislators across 31 districts of the state will be covered, a party office bearer said.

According to him, the meeting is being held mainly to strengthen the party base in the districts, apart from identifying land for setting up more party offices and to prepare an action plan for the Lok Sabha elections.

The chief minister and the deputy chief minister will also hear and address the grievances and complaints of the MLAs, the office bearer said.

The Congress has set a target of winning at least 20 seats in the Lok Sabha in 2024.

The party had to make do with just one seat in 2019 when the BJP won 25 out of 28 seats.

The meeting also comes against the backdrop of 11 MLAs allegedly writing to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah complaining that 20 ministers were not cooperating and were not available for discussions on development works in their respective constituencies.

The ministers were unapproachable and one had to reach out to them through third persons, the purported letter said.

However, Kalaburagi Congress MLA B R Patil later clarified that the alleged letter was fake as he had never written any such missive.