Dr. Parameshwara dismisses leadership change rumours; asks reporters not to read too much into casual meetings

Mysuru: Home Minister Dr. G. Parameshwara visited the Sri Chamundeshwari Temple atop Chamundi Hill this morning, accompanied by his wife Kannika Parameshwara, to offer special prayers.

The couple arrived at the temple complex around 7 am, along with Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson H.A. Venkatesh, former MLA M.K. Somashekar, and others. After spending some time at the temple, the Home Minister and his wife departed for Bengaluru at approximately 8 am.

Speaking to reporters at Hotel Metropole regarding his last evening’s meeting with Ministers Satish Jarkiholi and Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa, Dr. Parameshwara clarified that it was merely a courtesy visit and should not be misconstrued as being related to rumours of a leadership change in Karnataka.

“Jarkiholi was in town and we met at Chamarajanagar MP Sunil Bose’s residence in Vijayanagar, where his father, Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa, was also present. It was a casual dinner, but the media is unnecessarily portraying it as a meeting to discuss replacing Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister. All 136 Congress MLAs are united and Siddaramaiah is our leader,” he said.

When reporters continued to press him about the details of the meeting, Dr. Parameshwara responded, “Please don’t read too much into casual lunch, dinner or coffee meetings and avoid exaggerating the events.”

City Police Commissioner Seema Latkar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (Law and Order) M. Muthuraju and DCP (Crime and Traffic) S. Jahnavi were present during the Home Minister’s visit.