Karnataka Congress legislature party meet: Gag order on lawmakers amid truce call

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress' top brass called for truce on the ongoing power tussle within the party at a meeting of all lawmakers on Monday where a gag order was issued.

The overarching message to lawmakers at the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting was that everyone must abide by whatever the high command decided.

"No minister or MLA should make public statements," the party's lawmakers were told at the CLP meeting, which was also attended by Congress general secretaries Randeep Singh Surjewala and Jairam Ramesh.

The party's lawmakers were asked to toe the line on whatever the high command decides.

This was seen as an omnibus message to factions belonging to both Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar, whose followers have been washing dirty linen in public.

It was also aimed at Home Minister G Parameshwara and other SC/ST leaders who were upset after the party got their dinner meet-up postponed last week.

Addressing the CLP meet, Siddaramaiah apparently said he would issue orders for the “immediate release” of Rs 10 crore to each MLA for constituency development. “In the upcoming budget, I will provide more grants,” he is said to have told MLAs.