Leadership crisis may hit Cong's work as Opposition:G Parameshwara

The Congress’ leadership crisis might impact its performance as the principal Opposition party ahead of the upcoming legislature session, senior leader G Parameshwara rued Wednesday.

"All of us have mounted pressure on the party high command to decide soon," Parameshwara told reporters.

The party’s leadership crisis was the result of the resignations tendered by Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dinesh Gundu Rao, which the high command is yet to act upon.

"The government has become inactive. We can keep the government on its toes as the Opposition if the confusion is cleared," Parameshwara, a former deputy chief minister, said.

"The legislature session is called on February 17. We’ll have to raise several issues - administration having come to a standstill, stagnation of works at district level, withdrawal of funds approved by the previous government and others,” he said. "So, as the Opposition we can't sit quiet. If the decision on the LoP and KPCC president is taken, it'll help.”

Admitting that the Congress was fraught with internal quibbles, Parameshwara said all leaders will have to work together in the interest of the party. "It’ll be the new KPCC president’s responsibility to take everyone together. So, if the KPCC president is announced, everything will get cleared,” he said.

Meanwhile, former Assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa hit out at the party’s high command for dragging its feet on resolving the leadership crisis. "It looks like that high command behaves differently if the party is in power. There’s more enthusiasm if the party is in power. When it is not, nobody knows where the high command is," he said.

"First of all, we shouldn’t have a situation that requires things to be taken to the high command. All problems must be resolved here itself," Thimmappa said, hitting out at the Siddaramaiah and Parameshwara factions.