Setting aside their differences, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dr G. Parameshwar and leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, Siddaramaiah, on Thursday flayed party colleagues for protesting against the recent revamp of Pradesh Congress Committee. Participating in an event to mark the assumption of office by Gandhinagar legislator Dinesh Gundu Rao and S.T. Somashekhar as heads of the local units of Congress, the leaders warned dissenters with stern action.
“We cannot tolerate indiscipline and dissidence in the party. This will only harm the party, and we cannot build our party by protesting against our own party. I agree with the suggestion that strict action should be taken against Congress members, who resort to protests,” said Mr Siddaramaiah.
Dr Parameshwar said, “We have to sink our differences and follow the instructions of our party national president Mrs Sonia Gandhi. We must win at least 20 Assembly seats in Bengaluru alone in the next polls due in 2013. The nominations to KPCC were made as per the recommendations made by party leaders to Congress general secretary in charge of Karnataka, Mr Madhusudan Mistry. If any party member finds anomaly in the appointments, they are free to approach me and discuss the issue. If they do not trust me, they can approach any other senior leaders and air their grievances. If any members continue to protest, action will be taken at an appropriate time,” he added.
Mr Siddaramaiah trained his guns on the state government, charging that it took credit for projects implemented with funds obtained from the Congress led Union government. Dr Parameshwar urged the government to order a CBI probe into the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike fake bills scam involving a whopping Rs 16, 000 crore.