Shivakumar announces postponement of Dec 8 all-party meeting
New Delhi: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Wednesday said that the all-party meeting scheduled to be held in New Delhi on December 8 has been postponed.
“We will speak to opposition leaders, Union Ministers, and MPs from Karnataka and announce a suitable date soon,” he said.
Shivakumar said that Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi and V. Somanna have review meetings on the same day and are unable to attend.
He added that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also has to present a bill in Parliament.
“I spoke to Pralhad Joshi. He said he cannot attend because the Prime Minister is participating in a meeting that day. The meeting must include opposition leaders, MPs, and Union Ministers together. We need to speak in one voice for the welfare of the state, and that is the purpose of this preparation,” he said.
Union Minister for Food, Public Distribution, Consumer Affairs, New and Renewable Energy, Pralhad Joshi, has stated on Wednesday that due to the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament and heavy official workload, it will not be possible for him to attend the meeting of MPs convened by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Shivakumar said that in the next meeting, MPs will be briefed about the issues they must take up and that leadership for each matter will be decided.
On BJP’s criticism that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was wearing a watch worth Rs 43 lakh, he said, “Who said the watch is worth Rs 43 lakh? Seven or eight years ago, it cost around Rs 24 lakh when I bought it. How can it now be Rs 43 lakh? On the day of the breakfast meeting, it was only later that we realised we both happened to be wearing watches from the same company.”
When asked whether the government’s internal issues had been resolved, he replied that there was never any confusion.
“It is you (the media) who created the confusion,” he said.