Compromised a lot to stay as State Congress chief: Parameshwara

Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said he had to compromise a lot to continue as the State Congress chief for five years.

He was addressing Congress workers at a function held to mark the death anniversary of Indira Gandhi and the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhabai Patel in the City.

Parameshwara, who continues to be the party president, said, “If I had not got along with everyone, who would have given me the opportunity to be the president for these many years?”

Later taking a dig at the BJP, Parameshwara said it was not correct to infringe upon people’s rights on their food habits and choices. The BJP should not adopt a confrontational attitude in this regard, he said.

The NDA government has been imposing anti-people policies in the last-one-and-half years. It is not correct for the union ministers to ridicule writers who are returning their awards. Ravindranath Tagore had returned the title of ‘Sir’ to the British government to protest against the Jallianwala Bagh incident and Shivaram Karanth had returned his Padma award opposing Emergency. The Centre should understand the sentiments of writers, he said.

State Congress vice president B L Shankar said the party seemed to be in a dilemma whether to support the corporate sector or the poor. The party, like in the past, should continue to be the voice of the poor, he said.

“The UPA government, in the first eight years, had programmes which were helping the corporate sector. In the final year, it began planning about right to education, land reforms to protect farmers’ interest and a mandatory corporate social responsibility rule. The corporate sector and the IT-BT sector did not support the Congress, but were carried away by the words of Narendra Modi,” Shankar said.