The Coordination Committee meeting of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) began in Bengaluru this morning at the party office on the Queen’s Road.

The meeting was chaired by Congress party in-charge of Karnataka Digvijay Singh who arrived in Bengaluru yesterday and met Chief Minister Siddharamaiah at his Home Office Krishna. Other leaders including Siddharamaiah, KPCC Chief Dr. G. Parameshwara, Oscar Fernandes, Janardhana Poojary, Mallikarjuna Kharge, Dr. M. Veerappa Moily, AICC General Secretary B.K. Hariprasad, M.V. Rajashekaran, Margaret Alva, K.H. Muniyappa were present. Water Resources Minister M.B. Patil and Minister for Higher Education and Tourism R.V. Deshpande were conspicuous by their absence.

While sources said that the meeting has been convened to discuss strategies to win the next year’s Assembly elections, speculation is rife that the party might consider enrolling some Ministers who have been serving for the last four years to work for the party. This means some Ministers will have to be dropped to make way for juniors to join the Cabinet.  

As soon as the meeting began, the diary of MLC K. Govindaraj, where the jottings reportedly indicated transfer of crores of rupees to the Congress high command by five Ministers, dominated the proceedings. Party leaders said that the diary episode had brought disrepute to the high command and was an embarrassment. They said that the image of the party has been dented by the diary revelations and it was difficult for the party to go to the people with such an image. The working style of MLC Govindaraj was also discussed.

While KPCC President G. Parameshwara told reporters yesterday that it was a practice of the Congress to enrol senior leaders for party work, KPCC Working President Dinesh Gundu Rao denied any agenda being set where dropping Ministers and enlisting them for party work would  be discussed.

Replying to reporters’ queries on reallocation of responsibilities in the party and the Government, Rao said, “It must be a fake agenda as there is no fixed agenda.”

CM Siddharamaiah is said to be unhappy about a decision to drop Ministers and some Ministers are supposed to have conveyed their anger about this decision to enlist them for party work exclusively.

Sources said, the party feels that each Minister who exits the Cabinet should be entrusted the responsibility of organising the party in 15 Assembly constituencies and ensure the victory of party candidates in the 2018 polls. Bypolls to Gundlupet and Nanjangud Assembly Constituencies will also be discussed.