NEW DELHI: Senior Congress MLA KN Rajanna , dropped from the Karnataka cabinet earlier in the day, said he will travel to Delhi to meet the party’s top leadership and resolve what he described as "misconceptions" about him. In a U-turn, he also backed Rahul Gandhi's "vote theft" claim.
Rajanna, a close aide of CM Siddaramaiah was removed from the cabinet after his critical remarks about his own party, where he expressed concern that they had failed to address alleged lapses in the electoral rolls before the election. He stated that the party "should feel ashamed" because these "irregularities happened right in front of our eyes."
The leader, however, without offering any clarification told reporters later in the day: "Our party high command, the president, and general secretary KC Venugopal have some misconceptions about me. I will go to New Delhi to meet them and clear the air."
"Whatever I may say, my commitment to the party high command is absolute," news agency PTI reported him as saying.
He also backed Rahul Gandhi’s "vote theft" agitation. "We will carry forward his agitation under his leadership," he said.
Asked who was responsible for the misunderstanding, he said he would explain his statements in detail soon.
Earlier in the day he crossed the party line by saying: "Look, if we just start talking about such things casually, there will be different opinions. When was the voter list prepared? It was prepared when our own government was in power. At that time, was everyone just sitting quietly with eyes closed? These irregularities did take place — that’s the truth. There is nothing false in this. These irregularities happened right in front of our eyes — we should feel ashamed."
The leader further said that at a time when the party should have filed objections, "it kept quiet". "We didn’t take care of it at the time. That’s why we must be alert in the future....In Mahadevapura, there was indeed fraud. One person was registered in three different places and voted in all three. But when the draft electoral rolls are being prepared, we have to monitor it, right?...When the draft electoral rolls are made, we must file objections — that is our responsibility. At that time, we kept quiet and now we are talking," he said.
Rajanna's remark undoubtedly miffed the party and he was removed from the cabinet. Karnataka duputy CM DK Shivakumar had said Rajanna was "totally at fault" and that the party's leadership will reply to his remarks.
Before his ouster, Rajanna had courted controversy by questioning deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar's dominance, demanding three more deputy chief ministers — one each from the Lingayat, SC/ST, and minority communities.
He had also expressed interest in becoming the Karnataka Congress president, a post held by Shivakumar for over five years.
Meanwhile, the Rahul Gandhi vs Election Commission tension escalated as he declined to sign a sworn declaration backing his "vote-theft" allegations, despite repeated calls from the poll body.
Rajanna, a close aide of CM Siddaramaiah was removed from the cabinet after his critical remarks about his own party, where he expressed concern that they had failed to address alleged lapses in the electoral rolls before the election. He stated that the party "should feel ashamed" because these "irregularities happened right in front of our eyes."
The leader, however, without offering any clarification told reporters later in the day: "Our party high command, the president, and general secretary KC Venugopal have some misconceptions about me. I will go to New Delhi to meet them and clear the air."
"Whatever I may say, my commitment to the party high command is absolute," news agency PTI reported him as saying.
He also backed Rahul Gandhi’s "vote theft" agitation. "We will carry forward his agitation under his leadership," he said.
Asked who was responsible for the misunderstanding, he said he would explain his statements in detail soon.
Earlier in the day he crossed the party line by saying: "Look, if we just start talking about such things casually, there will be different opinions. When was the voter list prepared? It was prepared when our own government was in power. At that time, was everyone just sitting quietly with eyes closed? These irregularities did take place — that’s the truth. There is nothing false in this. These irregularities happened right in front of our eyes — we should feel ashamed."
The leader further said that at a time when the party should have filed objections, "it kept quiet". "We didn’t take care of it at the time. That’s why we must be alert in the future....In Mahadevapura, there was indeed fraud. One person was registered in three different places and voted in all three. But when the draft electoral rolls are being prepared, we have to monitor it, right?...When the draft electoral rolls are made, we must file objections — that is our responsibility. At that time, we kept quiet and now we are talking," he said.
Rajanna's remark undoubtedly miffed the party and he was removed from the cabinet. Karnataka duputy CM DK Shivakumar had said Rajanna was "totally at fault" and that the party's leadership will reply to his remarks.
Before his ouster, Rajanna had courted controversy by questioning deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar's dominance, demanding three more deputy chief ministers — one each from the Lingayat, SC/ST, and minority communities.
He had also expressed interest in becoming the Karnataka Congress president, a post held by Shivakumar for over five years.
Meanwhile, the Rahul Gandhi vs Election Commission tension escalated as he declined to sign a sworn declaration backing his "vote-theft" allegations, despite repeated calls from the poll body.
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