Drop Ministers skipping session: Congress legislators urge CM Siddaramaiah says at CLP meeting

Bengaluru: The ruling party legislators on Wednesday expressed displeasure with the functioning of some ministers at the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and asked him to drop those ministers from his Cabinet if they continue to skip the ongoing legislative session. 

The meeting saw legislators criticise ministers who ignore the party’s instructions and remain absent from the House, sources said. It is the second time that the legislators are calling out “unresponsive” ministers in the CLP meeting.  

Earlier, some senior legislators had voiced similar concerns and also complained to the fact-finding committee constituted to review the party’s performance in the Lok Sabha elections. The seniors had sought an evaluation of the district in-charge ministers’ performance. 

Stating that the CM had himself asked all ministers to remain present in the House, except under unavoidable circumstances, legislators asked what the point of having ministers who don’t even attend the legislature was. 

Citing delay in development works in their constituencies, the MLAs and MLCs sought development funds as promised in the earlier CLP meeting, besides budgetary allocation.  

Siddaramaiah urged the members to corner the Opposition BJP in the Assembly over the “injustice” by the Centre to Karnataka in GST allocations, rising prices of cooking gas and shortages.

Also, Bangarpet MLA Narayanaswamy walked out of the meeting after an argument with Sringeri MLA T D Rajegowda. While Narayanaswamy complained that the IAS and IPS officers did not heed to the elected representatives, Rajegowda defended the bureaucrats, leading to a verbal spat and former storming out. 

The Bengaluru MLAs demanded transfer of police inspectors ahead of GBA polls, stating that there had been no transfers for the last two and a half years.