Congress a closed chapter, says miffed Ibrahim

Ibrahim maintained that he had offers to work with political parties in West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and he would take a call soon

Miffed over being sidelined in the party, senior Congress leader and MLC C M Ibrahim on Thursday announced his intentions to quit the party.

Speaking to mediapersons here, Ibrahim said, “Congress is a closed chapter,” for him. He would deliberate with his well-wishers and announce his next move, he said.

He will also resign from his position as an MLC soon, he said. He has a three year tenure left.

Apparently, Ibrahim was keen on being appointed as the leader of opposition in the Legislative Council. However, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) chose B K Hariprasad for the post on Wednesday. This decision is believed to have pushed Ibrahim’s decision to quit the party. There have been speculations of late that he will join JD(S).

However, Ibrahim did not announce anything officially. He maintained that he had offers to work with political parties in West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and he would take a call soon.

He ruled out joining the BJP. His ideology doesn’t match with the BJP’s, he stated, adding, “I am Basava Krupa. They (BJP) are Keshav Krupa. The two are contrary to each other.”

Training his guns at the party, Ibrahim said the Congress culture today was to say, “Yes boss”. Ibrahim minced no words in saying that he was unable to gel with KPCC President DK Shivakumar. “Our ways are different,” he said.

He also expressed disappointment with Siddaramaiah. He was the one who told Siddaramaiah to contest in Badami as his prospects from Chamundeshwari were bleak, he recalled. “Siddaramaiah gave me a good gift in return,” he lamented. “I tilled the land but the land is in someone else’s name,” he said cryptically.

He also predicted that the political equations would drastically change in Karnataka after the Uttar Pradesh elections. There could be an election soon. People will also see many Congress leaders quitting, he claimed.

Commenting on Ibrahim’s statement, KPCC President D K Shivakumar said he would talk to the senior leader. “Ibrahim was made the minister during Siddaramaiah’s tenure as the Chief Minister, by sidelining many legislators. Although he lost elections, he was given cabinet ranking and was made the planning commission chief. He was made the MLC twice,” he said.

JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said Ibrahim was welcome to join his party. Ibrahim is a former JD(S) leader.

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