Congress leaders now defend MLA being made KKRDB chairman

Ajay Singh & Priyank Kharge defend MLA's appointment as KKRDB chairman, citing better coordination & collective decisions. They argue that an MLA can devote more time to the task than a Minister. Kharge admits reservations, but urges all reps to join hands & work for region's development. Board meeting to decide on ₹5,000 crore budget.

Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB) chairman Ajay Singh and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge have justified the appointment of an MLA as chairman of KKRDB by arguing that better coordination among the Ministers from the region will fill the gap.

When the previous BJP government had changed the rules and appointed an MLA Dattareya Patil Revoor to the KKRDB chairman’s post, which was till then meant for only a Cabinet Minister from the region, the Congress leaders had repeatedly criticised the government for downgrading the post.

Addressing a media conference after Mr. Singh took charge as chairman of KKRDB at its headquarters in Kalaburagi on Monday, they said that they will have frequent meetings of Ministers and the legislators from the region and put forward the collective decisions and demands before the Cabinet.

“The Congress legislators and Ministers from the region have a better understanding of what is to be done for the development of the region. With better coordination among us and commitment to the development of the region, I can say my absence at Cabinet meetings will not be a problem. We will get the work done through the Ministers from the region and the Chief Minister,” Mr. Singh, who is Jewargi MLA, said.

“If a Minister is made chairman of KKRDB, he may not be able to focus on the KKRDB work as he will have his own department as a Minister and a district as in-charge. If an MLA is given the post, he can devote his entire time to the task,” Mr. Singh added. 

Admitting that he and many other Congress leaders, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, have strong reservations about making an MLA the chairman of KKRDB, Mr. Kharge asserted that all the eight Ministers and all the elected representatives from the region have a responsibility in joining hands with Mr. Singh and work hard for the development of the region.

“The previous BJP government had reduced the powers of KKRDB. It had snatched the powers of the board’s chairman and members. Now, we are restoring it as we are committed to developing the region. Many scams were reported in KKRDB during the BJP rule. Now, we are probing into all of them,” Mr. Kharge said.