Dissatisfaction is in Cong, will take them into confidence: HDK

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday, said that disgruntlement over not getting ministerial berths, was a problem that his coalition partner Congress was facing and not JD(S). He asserted that things were 'Ok' in his party.

“The problem (of leaders upset) is in the Congress. I will try my best to resolve it. To the best of my ability, I will take them into confidence,” Kumaraswamy said, even as dissatisfaction among Congress leaders continued on Friday.

Many senior Congress leaders, including former ministers H K Patil, Satish Jarkiholi and M B Patil did not make the cut when the party announced the names of 14 ministers who are now part of the Kumaraswamy-led Cabinet.

The disgruntled leaders have been holding separate meetings and are trying to mount pressure on the party leadership. Their supporters, meanwhile, continued street protests demanding ministerial positions for their leaders.

“Everybody has aspirations, the feeling that they deserve and the wanting to work as ministers. But the sharing has to happen within a set framework. These problems are common when you are trying to form a government. In time, it will get diluted,” Kumaraswamy said.

Congress leaders R V Deshpande and D K Shivakumar, who found a place in the Cabinet, rushed to M B Patil’s residence Friday to pacify him. Patil has said that his “self-respect” was hurt because he was not made a minister. On Thursday, an angry Patil said he was not a “second-class citizen” and that he did not have any further aspirations, when asked if he would agree to become a minister in the next round of the Cabinet expansion.

High drama is unfolding outside the Congress headquarters on Queen’s Road here, where supporters of Shantinagar legislator N A Haris and Kuruba community supporters are staging a protest amid heavy security. At least three of them attempted suicide, while others attempted to block traffic. Some even tonsured their heads.