No groupism among us, all 140 MLAs only belong to Congress group: Shivakumar
Belagavi: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said on Friday that there is no groupism among the party cadre in the state, and noted that all the 140 MLAs only belong to the Congress group.
“All 140 MLAS, including me and the Chief Minister, only belong to one group, and that is the Congress group. Do not create any other group,” said Shivakumar, while responding to a question about the dinner meeting.
On Thursday, there was a dinner meeting, which was claimed to be a show of strength by Shivakumar.
“I am not displaying any strength, nor do I need to,” said Shivakumar.
Further clarifying about the dinner meeting, the Deputy Chief Minister said that the dinner was organised by his friend Doddannanavar.
“For the last 15 years, they have been inviting us home for a meal. We went there for only dinner out of respect for the family,” he said.
Shivakumar said that people from his constituency also bring food; should he refuse their courtesy as well?
“They invite affectionately. We go for food at different places each day. A boy from my constituency said he would send ‘ragi mudde’ (ragi ball dish) and ‘saaru (sambar). How can we refuse them? Tomorrow, senior leaders Asif Seth and Firoz Seth have invited us for dinner,” he added.
On Chief Minister’s son MLC Yathindra commenting about the Chief Minister’s position, he said that the Chief Minister will answer everything.
On other political developments, the Deputy Chief Minister said that he will travel to Delhi on December 13 to participate in the protest against voter fraud.
He said that the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has initiated the fight against voter fraud right in Karnataka.
“In 2023, we had identified voter theft through the Chilume scandal. I, along with AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, filed complaints with the Election Commission and fought the case. Later, we won the Assembly elections,” he said.
Shivakumar added that LoP Rahul Gandhi has now placed before the public evidence of voter theft that took place during the Lok Sabha elections.
He said that the Election Commission has become a tool of a specific political party, and we are fighting against it.
“In the signature campaign conducted across the state on this issue, 1.43 crore signatures were collected. I congratulate all workers and leaders,” he said.
On granting permission to host cricket matches at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, he said that the state government has taken necessary steps to protect Bengaluru’s reputation.