The Hindu
Bangalore, Nov 6: Former Deputy Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah did not attend the convention held here on Wednesday to analyse the reasons for the party’s debacle in the Assembly polls.
Another important senior leader, R L Jalappa, whose son J Narasimhaswamy, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, also did not attend the meeting.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President R V Deshpande said that former Chief Minister S M Krishna could not come as he was convalescing after a surgery.
Deshpande said he telephoned Siddaramaiah in the morning also and invited him to the convention. When presspersons reminded him of the complaints of the Campaign Committee chairman about the affairs in the State unit of the party as narrated to the media, some of which had even been published, Mr. Deshpande shot back saying whether the Congress could not work without such people.
Then he said that Siddaramaiah had already made it clear that he was in the Congress.
Siddaramaiah, he said, was a senior and respected leader of the party.
The KPCC president said that a resolution was passed on taking disciplinary action against those who did not work for the party candidates in the elections.
It was also decided to prepare the list of candidates for the byelections to the eight Assembly seats and the Lok Sabha elections.