Two Karnataka ministers try to mollify disgruntled Rayaraddi

Two ministers in the Siddaramaiah cabinet rushed to the farmhouse of Yelaburga MLA and former minister Basavaraj Rayaraddi in Dharwad on Sunday night and held a closed-door meeting.

However, this meeting has raised curiosity in political circles as Rayaraddi has been vocal in expressing his resentment over being neglected.

Rayaraddi, who missed a berth in Siddaramaiah's cabinet despite being a senior legislator and former minister, has written letters to the chief minister expressing his strong resentment over being neglected.

Instead of directly saying that the Congress leadership has neglected him and his seniority, he has accused the officials in Kalyan Karnataka region of not being responsive to his calls and complaints.

In his latest letter to the chief minister, Rayaraddi, who represents Yelburga in Koppal district, said the Gescom officials, including the managing director, have not responded to his calls and complaints regarding the disruption in power supply to the region - and the plight of the farmers who are unable to supply water to the standing crops because of interruptions in power supply.

Rayaraddi has sought the direct intervention of the chief minister and has urged the latter to chair a meeting with Gescom and KPTCL officials to sort out the problems.

As the letter from a senior legislator from the ruling party came as an embarrassment, Medical Education Minister Dr Sharanprakash Patil and Higher Education Minister Dr C Sudhakar came down to Rayaraddi's Mamata Farm on Goa Road off Dharwad on Sunday night and reportedly tried to placate him.

Dr. Sharanprakash had no official program in Dharwad, while Dr. Sudhakar made a brief visit to the Karnataka Higher Education Academy. Both the ministers stayed overnight at Rayaraddi's farmhouse.

Dr. Sudhakar said Rayaraddi had just brought to the notice of the chief minister the problems faced by the farmers due to the failure in power supply. There is no need to give a political colour to the issue, he added.

Rayraddi reacts

In the meantime, Rayaraddi sought to downplay the 'letter writing' episode and said there is no need to give a political angle to his writing letters to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

He told the media here on Monday that "My district Koppal comes under Gescom, and the MD is not responding to my calls and complaints regarding the disruption in power supply and the resultant farmers’ plight. It is the CM who can deal with the MD. So, I sought the CM’s intervention and released the letter to the media so that the people in my region know my efforts.”

On the two ministers’ visit to his farmhouse in Dharwad on Sunday night, Rayaraddi said he had organized a program at Koppal and Talakal where the two ministers were guests. “We discussed some issues related to development in Koppal district and will travel to Koppal together,” he said.

To a question on being disgruntled over not being a minister, he said he is not unhappy with the Congress and ruled out quitting the Congress and joining the BJP. “There is no difficulty in going to the BJP. But BJP’s ideology does not suit mine,” he said.

Rayaraddi said he, Siddaramaiah, and R V Deshpande entered the Legislative Assembly together and added that he was not unhappy at not being in the Cabinet. “Senior, experienced R V Deshpande is also not in the cabinet. In the BJP, L K Advani should have been the PM, but Modi became the PM. Mallikarjun Kharge also missed his chance. Such things happen in politics as several factors are at work,” he said.

“I am unhappy only because my experience and expertise are not being used,” he added.