Bengaluru, Oct 10 (IANS) Karnataka Legislative Council Opposition leader and senior BJP leader, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy said on Friday that there is a close connection between the so-called “November Revolution” and the “dinner meeting” called by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

It can be noted that as Siddaramaiah is set to complete half his term as the Chief Minister in November, it is rumoured that Siddaramaiah will have to vacate his CM’s chair to Deputy Chief Minister and State Congress President D.K. Shivakumar, as per the power-sharing formula.

However, Siddaramaiah has claimed that he will be the Chief Minister for the full term of five years and Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar and his loyalist MLAs are vocally supporting the candidature of Shivakumar for the Chief Ministerial post.

Speaking to the media at the State BJP office ‘Jagannath Bhavan’ in Bengaluru, Narayanaswamy said that people are sensing a major development is taking place within the Congress in the state.

“It is the Chief Minister himself who has called for the dinner meeting. Some Ministers are holding separate meetings. All these are signs of a revolution brewing within the Congress. Overall, the very fact that a dinner meeting is being held makes it significant. While in the past two-and-a-half years was there such a dinner meeting?” he asked.

“Is this the end of Siddaramaiah’s tenure as the Chief Minister of Karnataka? As D.K. Shivakumar’s loyalists have been hinting, is November the beginning of Shivakumar’s term as Chief Minister? Having denied Dalits the Chief Ministerial post for more than 75 years, will the Congress now finally bring the curtain down on that injustice and make a Dalit the Chief Minister?” Siddaramaiah asked.

He said that the name of Home Minister G. Parameshwara as the next Chief Minister has now begun doing the rounds across political circles in Karnataka.

“Even Siddaramaiah’s close aides are talking about it. Has Siddaramaiah himself been considering bringing in G. Parameshwara? These are the kinds of questions now arising in people’s minds,” Narayanaswamy added.

Commenting on the issue of Indira kits containing rice and pulses, the BJP leader responded by saying, “Among the five guarantees, one was five kg of rice. They (Congress) never gave rice on their own; till now they have only been distributing the rice supplied by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Why is the Congress now trying to rename it under former PM late PM Indira Gandhi? All this is nothing but a reflection of Congress’ internal slavish mentality.”

Reacting to another query on jailed Congress MLA K.C. Veerendra planning to fund Rs 300 crore for the Congress high command in return of a Cabinet post, Narayanaswamy said, “It is being reported that Congress MLA Veerendra was ready to provide around Rs 300 crore for the upcoming Bihar elections, in return for being made a Minister. I have also heard that during the Enforcement Directorate raids, assets worth about Rs 400 crore were unearthed, and that 50 kg of gold was seized just yesterday (Oct 9).”

“This Congress party is steeped in corruption. He is not the only one; there are hundreds of families inside Congress involved in corruption,” he alleged.

–IANS

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