The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting, organized by the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at a hotel on Monday evening.
The meeting was scheduled to send out a message that there was no factional within the party, only exposed the differences between the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s camps.
During the meeting, Shivakumar, in his speech, credited Women and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar for the successful implementation of the state-of-the-art District Congress office in Belagavi, which irked Satish Jarkiholi, the Current District Minister, Public Works Department (PWD) Minister.
In response, Satish approached the platform and requested a separate appointment with AICC General Secretary Randeep Surjewala to discuss the matter in details on Tuesday.
He took strong exception to Shivakumar’s statement, saying, “It is an insult to us, the Jarkiholi brothers (Satish and Ramesh), as we were the ones who initiated the process. Ramesh identified the site and I spent Rs 3 crore from my own pocket,” Satish claimed.
Additionally, he provided a detailed account of his contributions to the party, explaining that he had played a key role in securing the Chikkodi Lok Sabha seat through the efforts of his daughter Priyanka and the Shiggaon by polls, and also claimed to have helped Laxmi politically by backing her son Mrinal in the year 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is planning a convene a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting ahead of the state budget.
Despite Satish Jarkiholi’s claims, Laxmi Hebbalkar also took to the dais despite being advised by senior leaders, including MLC MR Seetharam, and gave her version of the construction of DCC Bhavan. She did not pay heed to Shivakumar’s advice either, sources told The New Indian Express.
Laxmi Hebbalkar stated that during her tenure as a District Congress Committee (DCC) president, with the help of then minister Vinaykumar Sorake, successfully acquired the site for the Congress office at a reasonable price and managed its construction by pooling in funds.
“Should we not get recognition for our efforts? “She asked.
The situation, which had grown tense, was eventually calmed down by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and AICC General Secretary Randeep Surjewala.
Earlier, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urged all legislators, that every individual, including himself and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, obey the high command’s decisions and maintain discipline, and that the party’s interest must take precedence. He claimed that he had allocated additional funds of Rs 10 crore each to every assembly constituency, including those represented by opposition party legislators.
He assured, “I will convene another Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting to gather suggestions from party MLAs before the budget, though it is said that he said so last year too, but did not keep his word and failed to follow through it.
AICC General Secretary Randeep Surjewala directed MLAs to actively contribute to the success of ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan’ conference to be held at Belagavi on January 21.
The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting was considered successful to the extent that no MLA spoke against the leadership or brought up the planned meeting of SC/ST MLAs meeting which was organized by the Siddaramaiah camp is planning to hold.
Dr. G Parameshwara, Home Minister and KN Rajanna, Cooperation Minister, were mute spectators as Surjewala issued instructions that no leader should violate the party’s discipline.