Bengaluru: Chatting with media individuals Wednesday, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah stated that the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Normal Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala had not “officiated” any assembly in Bengaluru. His assertion was an try and diffuse the uproar over the presence of Surjewala, additionally the Congress state in-charge, at a purported “official” assembly held Tuesday in Bengaluru.
The CM stated that it was “not an official assembly” and that Surjewala was there to talk to the Bengaluru metropolis MLAs concerning the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP, town’s civic physique) elections, to be held this yr. “The assembly was about Bengaluru metropolis however they (contributors) spoke about company elections as properly, however it was not an official assembly,” Siddaramaiah stated.
The purported assembly has given the Opposition ammunition to assault the one-month-old Congress authorities.
Congress MLA B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan Tuesday posted an image of a “assembly” on Twitter and wrote, “Participated within the assembly known as by @DKShivakumar at Shangri-la resort in Bengaluru and mentioned about varied points and betterment of Bengaluru. AICC common secretary and in control of Karnataka @rssurjewala was additionally current (sic).”
The tweet has since been deleted however the BJP posted a screenshot.
The image reveals Surjewala seated in the midst of a convention room. Others in attendance embody senior BBMP officers like Rakesh Singh and metropolis company commissioner Tushar Girinath, amongst others.
Deputy Chief Minister D.Ok. Shivakumar and senior cupboard members like Zameer Ahmed Khan, Ok.J. George and Ramalinga Reddy are additionally seen within the image.
Quickly after Khan posted the photograph, the Bharatiya Janata Occasion (BJP) levelled allegations in opposition to the Congress authorities for permitting Surjewala to “chair” a gathering of officers and MLAs from Bengaluru.
One senior official instructed ThePrint that Surjewala got here in to speak to the legislators and left inside ‘2-3 minutes’ and through his presence there was no dialogue on Bengaluru metropolis improvement. However most different ministers have given various variations on the controversy.
Janata Dal (Secular)’s H.D. Kumaraswamy instructed reporters that the Karnataka authorities was being run from “10 Janpath” — the residence of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi — whereas the BJP stated that this was a gathering to debate “offers”.
“Is that this the place the ‘85% offers’ are being orchestrated by the #ATMSarkara to boost funds forward of 2024 Elections (sic)?” wrote BJP.
The “secret assembly” held at Bangalore’s Shangri-La Resort is simply one other means of ‘Gandhis!’ attempting to regulate Karnataka.
The household have despatched their shut aide Randeep Surjewala, who neither holds any place at BDA/BBMP nor within the authorities to resolve on Karnataka’s issues.… pic.twitter.com/CTioPhUh0S
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) June 13, 2023
“We had been supposed to satisfy to debate Bengaluru points and the BBMP elections. We had breakfast too. He (Surjewala) got here, was there for a couple of minutes and went off. The dialogue on any official matter didn’t occur once I was there,” an official instructed ThePrint on situation of anonymity.
In response to Shivakumar, the officers had come to Shangri-la resort to take him to the Bengaluru Growth Authority (BDA) workplace and that there was no official assembly with Surjewala. He even known as the resort a “assembly level” from the place the officers would take him to the BDA workplace and later for inspection of assorted metropolis junctions, he instructed reporters Wednesday.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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