Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Sep 20: Referring to rumours making the rounds that he had expressed his aversion towards Siddaramaiah by staying away from the Congress parliamentary party meeting, Parameshwar addressing a press conference on Thursday September 19, clarified that he does not have an axe to grind against the former chief minister.

At the press meet, Parameshwar explained that he had gone to New Delhi for meeting D K Shivakumar. "I met Sonia Gandhi during this visit. Therefore, I could not take part in the Congress legislature party meeting. My absence from the meeting cannot be construed as differences of opinion between me and Siddaramaiah," he added.

He said that it is not right for the political analysts to project as if he has enmity against Siddaramaiah, and thus creating confusion in the minds of the people. He said he spoke to Sonia about strengthening the party in the state, duly asserting that he has made it a practice to meet national leaders of the party during his visits to New Delhi. "I was unable meet Sonia Gandhi since a year. Therefore I met her and enquired about her health condition. I also gave information about Shivakumar. But all these have been wrongly understood," he explained.

Parameshwar said that he has a feeling that there is someone is involved with spreading the notion that he and Siddaramaiah are adversaries. 'I am an original Congressman and will remain with the party till the end. There is no compartments like original Congressmen and those who came from other parties. Sonia Gandhi asked me to strengthen the party in our state. We did not discuss anything else. There was no question of holding discussion about the post of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president as reported by the media. We will together build the party and bring it back to power," he said. He said that like in 2013, his party will come back to power with the help of collective leadership. He added that there are rumours about bypoll being held during December.

Parameshwar said that the leader of the opposition would be appointed shortly, and that there was delay in nominating a person for this post on account of All India Congress Committee presidential post imbroglio. He criticized the centre for its inertia in helping Karnataka to handle losses inflicted by floods. He was critical of Yediyurappa for failing to lead a delegation to the centre to demand disbursal of flood relief at the earliest.