KPCC to continue evaluation of Siddaramaiah Cabinet

Congress State chief G Parameshwara has said that there is no rethinking on conducting quarterly assessment of ministers in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet.

As per the party’s directions, the quarterly assessment report should be placed before the party vice president Rahul Gandhi by himself (Parameshwara) and the chief minister. So, the question of someone liking or disliking the procedure didn’t arise, he said.

On Siddaramaiah’s reservations about the evaluation of the just four-month old government, Parameshwara said he was only implementing the party high command’s direction on reviewing the performance. The party would take the assistance of a professional organisation to draw a questionnaire for the assessment, he told Deccan Herald.

Asked whether Siddaramaiah too would be assessed, he replied in the negative. So far the party has not given instruction whether a chief minister too should come under scrutiny, he added.

To a question whether Nandan Nilekani, one of the founders of Infosys, would be the party candidate to take on H N Ananth Kumar of the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls from Bangalore South, Parameshwara said that he had no clue.

“For me it looks like a concocted story. Eventually, we will be looking at the winnability of a candidate while finalising the list,”  he added.

When asked if Parameshwara, as the party president, would ask Minister Santosh Lad to quit, following allegations of his involvement in the mining scam, he said it was left to the chief minister’s discretion.

“The chief minister has access to all the relevant records. He should go through them and take an appropriate decision,” he added.

The party chief also said neither Lad nor his company was indicted in the Lokayukta report. He has differences with his brother (Anil Lad) and friends who are jealous of his position. “I have not noticed any illegality committed by Santosh Lad. But, let the CM look into the issue,” he added.