Siddaramaiah plays down seniors’ outburst

A day after being attacked by senior colleagues, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah played things down on Wednesday.

Former minister Ramalinga Reddy, who made a scathing attack on the party leadership for neglecting seniors, will be inducted into the Cabinet when it is reshuffled, Siddaramaiah said.

“I had told him that he’ll be inducted as minister when the Cabinet is reshuffled. For now, we’ve decided to fill up only one berth that got vacated by the death of C S Shivalli. When the Cabinet is reshuffled, Reddy will be inducted,” Siddaramaiah said.

There are three Cabinet berths vacant of which one falls under the Congress’ quota and two are of the JD(S).The former chief minister dismissed the “natives vs immigrants” fight within the party.

“Was anyone there when the party was founded in 1885? Anyone who joins the party believing its ideology and having faith in the leadership is a Congressman. There’s no old or new here,” he said.