Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Jun 15: As per information gathered, former chief minister and chairman of the coordination committee of Congress and JD(S) government, Siddaramaiah, has refused to accept the offer of presidentship of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) offered to him. He has put his weight behind current working president of KPCC, Gundu Rao, for the post, it is said.

At Siddaramaih’s behest, S R Patil is likely to be made chairman of legislative council in place of D H Shankaramurthy of BJP, who is retiring, and who chose not to contest the election this time.

Dinesh Gundu Rao

Dinesh Gundu Rao was deprived the post of the minister because he belongs to Brahmin category, while Patil, a Lingayat, had worked very hard for Siddaramaih’s victory in Badami constituency. Siddaramaiah, it is said, chose not to head KPCC as Lok Sabha election is just a year away, for which lot of responsibilities will have to be shouldered and money matters would have to be managed besides taking the blame in case of failure.

In this race, Basavaraj Horatti, a JD(S) leader who the party was willing to make chairman of the legislative council, seems to have lost the race. Congress happens to be the biggest party in the council and JD(S) is obliged to back it.

Senior JD(S) leader, Basavaraj Horatti, was initially offered the post of the chairman of the council by his party. Horatti was angry at not being made a minister by his party then. He had stated that the party leadership was angry at his involvement with Lingayat religious status agitation and therefore did not make him a minister, but had argued that it was his personal participation and not on behalf of the party. Horatti had refused to become council chairperson, but after Kumaraswamy counselled with him, he had agreed to accept this post. On Thursday, he had met Siddaramaiah and requested him to support his candidature for the post of legislative council chairman.