Congress MLAs upset with some ministers' functioning

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday held the Congress legislature party (CLP) meeting to listen to the wish list of party legislators ahead of the 2015-16 budget.

Legislators were given an opportunity to speak about the development of their constituencies and give their suggestions for preparing the 2015-16 budget.

The exercise is seen as an effort by the chief minister to take the party legislators into confidence. The chief minister had also hosted dinner for the legislators along with the CLP meeting held at his official residence ‘Cauvery’.

Many of the ruling party MLAs had been expressing dissatisfaction over the style of functioning of some ministers. They were upset with the ministers not responding to them on the development of their constituencies. Some of these legislators had recently complained to Digvijaya Singh, AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, in this regard, party sources said.

The sources said Vinay Kulkarni and S N Narayanaswamy complained that JD(S) MLAs were getting more funds for the development of their constituencies. They urged the chief minister to direct his ministerial colleagues and the department heads not to create unnecessary hurdles while approving works for the constituencies.

Sources said Siddaramaiah asked the legislators to take the coming Gram Panchayat elections seriously and educate people on the achievements of his government at the booth level.