K'taka: Congress MLAs meet Surjewala following 'infighting' rumours

Bengaluru, June 30 (IANS) Karnataka Congress MLAs met General Secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala on Monday at the Congress office in Bengaluru for one-on-one meetings to express their grievances.

The meetings come in the wake of open dissent by several Congress legislators against the state government, with some even threatening to resign.

Surjewala, however, downplayed the controversy, stating that the meetings were part of an organisational exercise.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge told the media persons that Surjewala will submit a report after meeting the MLAs on what has happened and what needs to be done.

“We will consider what steps are required based on the information he provides,” said the Congress President.

Among those who met Surjewala was B. R. Patil, Congress MLA and Deputy Chairman of the State Policy and Planning Commission, who had earlier raised allegations of large-scale corruption in the Housing Department.

"I met Surjewala sir and said everything I had to say. He noted down everything. Now it’s up to him to decide what needs to be done. No instructions were given," Patil told media persons.

Senior MLA Raju Kage, who had threatened to resign, did not meet Surjewala this time, stating he would do so during the next round of meetings.

Addressing the media after the first round of discussions, Surjewala said, “This is an organisational exercise being undertaken jointly by the AICC and KPCC. We are meeting individually with all MLAs and those supporting the Congress party.”

He explained that the initiative aims to review the status of governance after completing two years in office and assess the implementation of the five key Congress guarantees in each constituency.

“Karnataka is the only state in the country that transfers Rs 58,000 crore directly into the accounts of its people. We have transferred nearly Rs 24,000 crore to 1.22 crore women at the rate of Rs 2,000 per month to help them cope with inflation caused by the BJP-led central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.

Surjewala added that more than 300 crore women have availed free travel under the Shakti scheme in RTC buses. As part of the Gruha Jyoti scheme, 1.66 crore households receive 200 units of free electricity to ease their financial burden.

He further stated that over four crore people receive 10 kilograms of rice under the Anna Bhagya scheme, while nearly four lakh youth have been awarded scholarships of Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 per month for two years after completing their diploma or graduation.

Surjewala also noted that the exercise includes evaluating the performance of Congress organisational units such as the block and assembly-level committees, NSUI, Youth Congress, Seva Dal, SC/ST, Minority, and OBC departments.

“This is to ensure we can review and, if necessary, reconstitute these bodies. We are also assessing the developmental work carried out by legislators and identifying pending projects so that necessary support can be extended.”

He emphasised that inputs from MLAs will be used to advise ministers and the Chief Minister on governance priorities. “We also want to know what further people-friendly initiatives can be taken, like the regularisation of nearly 10,000 sanitation workers in Bengaluru after decades.”

Referring to the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi’s recent visit marking the completion of two years of Congress rule in Karnataka, Surjewala noted that over one lakh house ownership records were distributed to families residing on village peripheries by converting them into revenue villages.

He concluded that MLAs from two divisions had been covered so far, and he would return next week to meet the remaining legislators. “After that, I will also be meeting all defeated candidates,” he said.

--IANS

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