Cong MLAs blame Ugrappa for fiasco; demand action

Bengaluru: Upset over the embarrassment caused to the party after its no-confidence motion against Legislative Council Chairman D.H. Shankaramurthy was defeated on Thursday, some Congress leaders have demanded action against their party MLC V.S. Ugrappa and others.

MLAs S.T. Somashekar, K.N. Rajanna, D.G. Shanthana Gowda and others have complained to KPCC President Dr. G Parameshwara that the defeat of the motion and the behaviour of the MLCs concerned had caused severe embarrassment to the party.

Ugrappa, who is a close aide of Chief Minister Siddharamaiah, had rallied the support of the JD(S) and independent MLCs for unseating the Council Chairman through a No Confidence Motion.

Now, the Congress legislators are planning to meet All India Congress Committee General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, who is in-charge of party affairs in Karnataka, on this issue.

Ugrappa has been accused by other Congress MLAs and MLCs of moving the No Confidence Motion against Council Chairman Shankaramurthy, without holding consultations with the party President.

This has thereby caused immense trouble for the Government’s Chief Whip at the Council, Ivan D’Souza, along with legislators, H.M. Revanna and Abdul Jabbar, who are allegedly facing the brunt of Ugrappa’s actions.

“This behaviour has hurt the prospects of the Congress party in the coming Assembly elections and it has also increased the prospect of other parties entering into an alliance among themselves. We demand action against Ugrappa and others who are responsible for this and also demand that it be brought to the notice of the high command,”  the leaders urged.

Speaking to reporters, Parameshwara said that it would be discussed internally. “I will discuss it with the Chief Minister. Already Congress has suffered a setback. The leaders have expressed their unhappiness and we have to ensure such things do not happen in the future,” he said.

Ugrappa said they had moved the motion only after the go-ahead given by the Chief Minister and Parameshwara.  “This is not a loss to us, but showed how the BJP representative has degraded the post and the unholy alliance of the JD(S),” Ugrappa said.