Bengaluru: With the JD(S)-Congress coalition Government in Karnataka yet to come to brass tracks, the first meeting of the Coordination Committee of the two parties, headed by former Chief Minister Siddharamaiah, scheduled for today, is like to discuss several burning issues, ranging from politics to administration. Apart from Siddharamaiah, CM H.D. Kumaraswamy (HDK), KPCC President and Dy.CM Dr. G. Parameshwara, AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, who is party in-charge for Karnataka affairs and Committee Convenor Danish Ali of JD(S) will attend the meeting.
The meeting will be held at Kumarakrupa Guest House in Bengaluru at 4 pm today. Earlier, the Committee was scheduled to meet in the morning and as HDK and Dr. Parameshwara are holding a meeting of Department Secretaries this morning, the Committee meeting will be held in the evening, Congress sources said.
The major issue would be the waiver of farm loans as any decision against farmers’ interests may spark agitation by farmers as well as BJP which is waiting on the wings to launch State-wide agitation against the government and any waiver would grossly impact on the State finance.
It is estimated, the farm loans that needed government immediate attention runs to around Rs.53,000 crore. HDK had already indicated that he was committed to farm loan waiver including those lent by the public sector banks, and was working out the modalities. Contrary to Kumaraswamy’s statement that he will continue the good programmes and schemes of Congress Government, the new Minister for Transportation D.C. Thammanna yesterday announced discontinuation of free bus pass to students announced by Siddharamaiah Government. The issue of Cabinet expansion may also come up before the Committee as disgruntled Congress leaders are keenly awaiting decision.
This post was published on June 14, 2018 6:39 pm