Bangalore: Siddu's warning to ministers: Deliver or face axe
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Dec 4: Apparently incensed by the newspaper reports in a section of the media regarding at least 40 Congress legislators submitting a memorandum to the AICC leader Digvijaya Singh for filling up the five vacancies in the cabinet, the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is understood to have given a dressing down to all his ministerial colleagues at a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party in Belgaum and virtually warned them to deliver or be prepared to face the axe.
The chief minister, who addressed the CLP meeting convened during the ongoing Belgaum legislature session which is scheduled to end on Friday, said he too had received complaints against many of the ministerial colleagues and asked all the ministers to perform and be available to redress the genuine grievances of the party legislators.
Siddaramaiah said the ministers must take steps to be more proactive and solve the problems of the people. The lok sabha elections are due to be held by May 2014 and time was running out.
''We have to win the maximum of 28 lok sabha seats from Karnataka. The ministers and Congress party legislators have a greater responsibility to ensure a handsome victory,” he said.
The chief minister is learnt to have directed all the ministers to regularly convene the Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) review committee meetings once in three months and also hold district review meetings with party workers on a monthly basis in order to redress the party legislators’ grievances.
“What is the use of becoming ministers without performing? ,” he asked.
Pointing out that he had been frequently advising ministers to hold meetings with the officials of the departments entrusted to them and be available in Vidhana Soudha every week unless they had to tour in the districts or go out on official work, the chief minister said he was not happy that his advise was not being followed.
''Somehow, you (ministers) have either not taken my advise seriously or intentionally ignoring it. In either of the case, party central leaders are keeping a tight watch on all of us. Do not compel them (Central Leaders) to act against you,” Siddaramaiah is believed to have told the ministers.
“For instance, one of the legislators charged that Cooperative Department officials in Shimoga district were still being transferred to please former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and former BJP state president K S Eshwarappa,” a legislator is learnt to have sarcastically commented.
When some of the ministers asked the Congress party legislators to mention the names instead of vaguely commenting, the chief minister directed the ruling partymen not to do so and approach him if they had any specific complaints.
Many of the Congress legislators referred to the media reports about the memorandum submitted to the party central leadership and said such reports were being published at the behest of some party leaders even though there was no basis and contended that the party was united.
The chief minister, however, sought to caution the partymen not to get carried away by false reports or inspired stories and concentrate on their work. ''We must be united,” he said.
The ruling party legislators reportedly urged the chief minister to regularly convene CLP meetings at least once in two months and enable them to air their grievances. They also reportedly demanded that the chief minister should meet the legislators and party leaders in each districts, especially during his tours of the districts.