Congmen embarrassed at general body meeting

The State Congress leaders, who have been harping on the UPA government’s decision to provide 4.5 per cent reservation to minorities, had to cut a sorry figure on Saturday at the KPCC general body meeting where members belonging to the minority communities raised serious objection for having left the State minorities’ cell headless for several months.

A majority of the senior leaders attending the meeting held at the Palace grounds made it a point to refer to the 4.5 per cent reservation within the 27 per cent OBC quota promised by the Centre and suggested the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee members to educate the minority community about the provision. However, the leaders faced embarrassment when one of the members criticised the State party unit for keeping the post of minority’s cell president vacant for a long time.

The minority communities are the party’s traditional vote bank. But the community members are gradually switching their loyalty to other parties as they are feeling neglected in the Congress. Unless steps are taken to win back their confidence, the party will lose the community’s trust. Appointing the State minorities’ cell president is a crucial step in this direction, the member learnt to have said.

The post of minorities’ cell president has been vacant for the past six months. Former minister Sageer Ahmed was holding the post for three years. As Ahmed had not been keeping well for the last many years, he was not able to actively take part in organisational activities, the party sources said.

Leaders belonging to minority communities, including eight of the party MLAs, had recently complained to the KPCC leadership that they were finding it difficult to woo the community people in the absence of a strong and active minorities’ cell. Veerappa Moily reportedly told the party to take all communities into confidence - especially Vokkaligas and Lingayats.

Too busy to attend
Union ministers from the State, as usual, remained busy with their work, and they could not sit through the day-long deliberations aimed at preparing the party to face the next Assembly elections.

While External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and Union Minister of State for Railways K H Muniyappa attended the meeting for a short period, Minister for Labour Mallikarjuna Kharge is on foreign tour. Minister for Corporate Affairs, Veerappa Moily, however, sat through the meeting till evening.

Ironically, all four Union ministers were recently given the responsibility of organising the party in each of four revenue divisions of the State. It was not just the seniors who disappeared, more than half of those who had assembled, disappeared after the lunch.
Congress MLAs Malikayya Guttedar, B C Patil and MLC Dayananda Reddy were three main absentees. The trio have been threatening to defect to the Nationalist Congress Party.

Their absence was dismissed by KPCC president G Parameshwara as a non-issue. But some of his colleagues asked him to punish those who disobey or give them marching orders.

Dayananda Reddy minced no words when he said that he abstained to indicate to the party that he was upset. Dinesh Gundu Rao was vocal in demanding action against those indulging in anti-party activities.

AICC general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Madhusudan Mistry is said to have warned the State Congress leaders not to go to the media to air their grievances. He is also learnt to have said that he was being vigilant and that any anti-party activities wouldn’t go unnoticed or unpunished.