CLP meeting today to address legislators’ grievances

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting on Thursday comes amidst simmering discontent among MLAs, who have been denied ministerial berths and have made critical remarks against the two-month-old government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting on Thursday comes amidst simmering discontent among MLAs, who have been denied ministerial berths and have made critical remarks against the two-month-old government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Many senior MLAs have apparently thumbed down the functioning of close to two dozen Ministers for not responding to their demands for release of funds for development works in their constituencies and transfer of officials.

Prior to the CLP meeting, Mr. Siddaramaiah would chair a Cabinet meeting on Thursday and he is expected to instruct Ministers to listen to legislators’ grievances on priority to douse discontent.

According to Congress leaders, party president M. Mallikarjun Kharge would attend the meet and he is expected to provide suggestions to Ministers about their functioning.

The MLAs are demanding funds for their constituency-related work which they had promised during elections. The government has been facing fund crunch on account of the implementation of the five guarantees that would cost more than ₹50,000 crore annually.

A group of MLAs has apparently written to Mr. Siddaramaiah, who is the CLP leader, to summon a meeting to discuss the issues. The legislators complained that much of the construction work of buildings such as anganwadis, schools and colleges, roadworks and drinking water schemes had remained incomplete and demanded release of funds.

That tension was rising among party leaders was apparent when senior party leader B.K. Hariprasad, MLC, who was denied ministerial berth, said that “he knows how to make Chief Ministers and bring them down too”.