Cong yet to approve resignations of Siddaramaiah, Gundu Rao

Bengaluru, Dec 13: The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is yet to approve the resignations of Karnataka opposition leader Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dinesh Gundu Rao, a party spokesperson said on Friday.

"There is no communication from Delhi or AICC whether the resignations have been accepted or whether the high command is thinking of appointing somebody else," Congress legislative council member Prakash Rathod told IANS.

Rao and Siddaramaiah resigned on December 9, taking moral responsibility to the electoral debacle in the by-elections on December 5, when Congress won only two seats of the 15 assembly seats it contested.

Rathod said there is no clue or idea on who will be appointed as the discussions will happen at the highest level in the Congress party.

However, he clarified that the discussions on these appointments are yet to start as the senior leaders are busy with national developments such as the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB).

Rathod said the Congress party is participating in Bharat Bachao Andolan in Delhi on December 14.

According to Rathod, some Karnataka Congress leaders are trying for the opposition leader post who do not want Siddaramaiah in that role.

H. K. Patil and D. K. Shivakumar are trying for the post, he said.

Rathod said Shivakumar is a senior leader from the Vokkaliga community and he is waiting for his chance.

"There is no question of trying for these posts because these are all the decisions taken at the highest level and not by somebody going and telling the high command that we want to be the president," said Rathod.

Neither Rao nor Siddaramaiah went to Delhi and lobbied for the posts they occupied, he said.

They were appointed after all the leaders in the Congress legislature party were consulted and Madhusudhan Mistry had come.

Only when all the leaders and workers work unitedly, good results can be expected.

All the leaders, including D. K. Shivakumar and R. V. Deshpande have realised that to beat the ruling Bharatiay Janata Party (BJP) we have to fight unitedly.

The next plan of action for Congress in Karnataka is to go to the grassroots level and get the house in order.