Party bigger than govt: Congress tells Karnataka leaders amid camp war

Addressing the general body meeting of the party, Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said indiscipline will not be tolerated.

Bengaluru: Congress on Monday pulled up its leaders, including ministers, for indiscipline and warned them against “bulldozing” the party amid a fresh bout of one-upmanship between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar, which forced the high command to intervene.

The missive was delivered by Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, who was sent by the top brass to take stock of the situation in Karnataka where political ‘dinner’ meetings and statements had reportedly riled up Shivakumar, the party’s president who is waiting for his chief ministerial turn.

Addressing the general body meeting of the Karnataka Congress, Surjewala said indiscipline will not be tolerated.

According to sources, Surjewala said the party is bigger than government. “The party is the mother and the government its child. Some of our leaders aren’t disciplined. None should bulldoze the party. We won’t tolerate that,” Surjewala, who oversees the party’s affairs in Karnataka, said.

Surjewala is also said to have told the meeting that caste-based conventions will not be sanctioned unless they are held under the party’s banner.

Senior ministers G Parameshwara and KN Rajanna skipped the meeting, which was viewed as their mark of protest against Surjewala asking the former to postpone a dinner meet-up of SC/ST leaders.

“Parameshwara has been the KPCC president. He's an organisation man. He has run the party. He knows the discipline of the party,” Surjewala told reporters. “I've conveyed my sentiments within the party to the other minister also,” he said, without elaborating or naming Rajanna when asked about his statements against Shivakumar.

Surjewala hailed Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar as Arjunas. “They can only see the eye of the fish,” he said, referring to the party’s growth.

Downplaying infighting in Congress, Surjewala said the media should question a “dismembered” BJP instead. “You’re asking questions to a united government,” he said and pointed to Rs 58,000 crore being spent on the ‘flagship’ guarantee schemes. “In order to hide their misdeeds and failure, the BJP is manufacturing stories to attack the Congress guarantees.”

The January 21 'Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan' rally at Belagavi was also on Surjewala's agenda. "We've decided to open 100 Gandhi Bharat offices across Karnataka. Their foundation stones will be laid by Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge sometime in February," he said, adding that locations had been identified for 74 so far.