Congress: Ahead of polls, ‘unhappy’ Parameshwara airs grouse

Senior Congress leader G Parameshwara is said to have expressed his displeasure over the party’s affairs to the extent that he reportedly offered to step down as chairperson of the manifesto committee.

Apparently, Parameshwara is unhappy that his party colleagues have been making poll promises without taking him into confidence.

According to sources, the former deputy chief minister aired his grouse with AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, who oversees the party’s affairs in Karnataka, during a luncheon on Wednesday.

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The Congress has already made two flagship poll promises - free 200 units of power to all households and Rs 2,000 per month to the woman head of a family - apart from releasing 10-point programmes for coastal and Kalyana Karnataka regions. All this while Parameshwara has been working on the party’s manifesto for which he has invited suggestions from citizens.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Parameshwara played down his disgruntlement. “There are internal things. There’s no question of being disgruntled. Yes, I had some opinions and it’s natural for me to air them internally,” he told reporters.

In his meeting with Surjewala, Parameshwara said they discussed “several important matters” ahead of the Assembly election. “I was KPCC president for eight years. We faced two Lok Sabha and two Assembly polls under my presidency. I have that experience. We discussed the current political situation and the way forward,” he said.

In what looked like an outreach, KPCC president DK Shivakumar made Parameshwara sit next to him during his bus tour that started from Kolar on Friday.

“Parameshwara is a big asset to our party. He was the longest-serving president,” Shivakumar said and ruled out Parameshwara being miffed.

Overseas trip

Shivakumar said a small team headed by Parameshwara would go overseas to study lessons that can be implemented to make traffic management in Bengaluru better. “We need a special plan for Bengaluru. We’ve already held talks with Singapore. How can we improve Bengaluru’s traffic? A team is going to come up with a strategy,” Shivakumar said.

Shivakumar also said that Bengaluru will need “strengthening” to justify the taxes people of the city pay. “We’re not saying we’ll make Singapore out of the city. But what can we offer in our manifesto? How can we remove the taint that Bengaluru has? How can we bring in transparency and accountability? A document is being prepared,” he said.