'Our MLA ST Somashekar has apologised to Kumaraswamy,' says Karnataka Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao; asserts coalition is well

Bengaluru: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dinesh Gundu Rao on Monday said, Congress MLA ST Somashekar has apologised to HD Kumaraswamy for his comment against the chief minister. On Twitter, the KPCC president said: “Our MLA Sri ST Somashekar has made statements which crosses the lakshmanrekha of coalition politics. It cannot be tolerated, especially when he is holding a responsible position. It’s an act of indiscipline and action will be initiated. “MLA ST Somashekar came to KPCC office and explained his statement to me. He has expressed his regret and apologised to the CM for any anguish caused. However I’m warning all the leaders of @INCKarnataka to be careful in their comments and not to cross the laksmanarekha,” he added. [caption id=“attachment_4347303” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao. Ayswarya Murthy/101Reporters[/caption] Rao strongly stated that any act of indiscipline will not be tolerated and action will be taken against the defaulters. “Any act of indiscipline by way of comments or behaviour will not be tolerated and discipline action will be initiated. Our coalition with the JDS is to take on the communal forces and unseat the anti democratic forces ruling this country, not to indulge in petty politicking,” Rao said in a series of tweet. An MLA from Yeshwantpur, ST Somashekar said that development work in Bengaluru had slowed down under the coalition regime-led by Kumaraswamy. The newly appointed chairperson of Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) had said that the development of roads in the city is not progressing well, unlike in the past when Siddaramaiah was the chief minister of the state. Earlier in the day, Kumaraswamy threatened to quit, voicing anger over certain remarks by some legislators of the Congress and said they “are crossing the line.” He asked the Congress to control its MLAs, after two of them, ST Somashekar and MTB Nagaraj, said on Sunday that they consider only former chief minister Siddaramaiah as their leader, and not Kumaraswamy. “Congress leaders…They have to watch all these issues. It is left to them. You ask Congress leaders. I am not the concerned person for all these things,” a visibily-angry Kumaraswamy told ANI when asked to comment on the remarks made by Somashekar and Nagaraj. “Same thing if they want to continue to (do) all this, I am ready to step down. I am ready to step down. Congress leaders must think about all this. They are crossing the line, they must control,” the chief minister said. The Congress immediately went into damage control mode, with its senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge, asking the leaders not to make unnecessary comments. Karnataka deputy chief minister and Congress leader G Parameshwara said that his party was happy with Kumaraswamy but found nothing wrong in MLAs expressing their opinion. In the 224-member Assembly, JD(S) has 37 seats and Congress has 80 seats. Ever since the Congress-JD(S) jointly formed the government in Karnataka in May, 2018, there have been murmurs rift in the coalition.