Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has clarified that Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala’s meeting with ministers and officers was not an official one even as the BJP on Wednesday lodged a complaint with Raj Bhavan.
On Tuesday, Surjewala came under attack for being in a meeting in which Bengaluru development and the BBMP elections were discussed with senior ministers and IAS officers.
“It wasn’t an official meeting. He just met MLAs who were called to discuss elections. To seek legal opinion, the advocate-general was there. Even the deputy CM was there in that meeting,” Siddaramaiah told reporters.
He even conceded that Surjewala has no power to hold a meeting with officials.
“It was a meeting called to discuss Bengaluru development. In the course of the meeting, election was discussed. It’s not an official meeting,” Siddaramaiah said.
A BJP delegation comprising lawmakers R Ashoka, P C Mohan, S Raghu, S Suresh Kumar, Ravi Subramanya, M Krishnappa and C K Ramamurthy submitted a memorandum to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot seeking action against ministers, including Shivakumar, for violating rules governing conduct of government business.
“Why did the Congress not invite our Rajya Sabha MPs Nirmala Sitharaman, Rajeev Chandrashekar, three Lok Sabha MPs and 16 MLAs? How can Surjewala, elected from some other state, hold a meeting of our officials?” Ashoka questioned.
Playing down the BJP’s complaint, Shivakumar maintained that there was no “such” meeting.
“I can provide a list of meetings that were held when the BJP was there,” he said.