Congress Leader Did Not 'Officiate' Any Meet, Says Siddaramaiah Amid Row

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today clarified that Congress national general secretary and state in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala had not "officiated" any meeting of the government and city civic body officials, dismissing the claims made by the opposition BJP and Janata Dal Secular. 

Mr Siddaramaiah's reaction came as the BJP has sought an appointment with Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to complain against Mr Surjewala allegedly "officiating" a meeting with the senior bureaucrats of the state government and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

"Surjewala did not officiate any meeting. He has only spoken to some MLAs. The Deputy Chief Minister (DK Shivakumar) was present there. It was a meeting which the DCM had attended," Siddaramaiah told reporters.

"You must understand that it is not an official meeting. The Bengaluru city MLAs were summoned for the Bengaluru civic body election where he (Mr Surjewala) had also gone," the Chief Minister said.

The meeting was regarding issues prevailing in Bengaluru city. Contextually, there were discussions about the (civic body) elections, Mr Siddaramaiah said. Mr Shivakumar was going to inspect the Hebbal flyover in the city and Mr Surjewala was also asked to attend it.

Meanwhile, a BJP delegation comprising Members of Parliament from the city and the former deputy chief Minister R Ashoka has sought an appointment with the Governor.

The BJP had, on Tuesday, questioned the presence of Mr Surjewala at the meeting chaired by Mr Shivakumar with officials of the state government and BBMP at a private hotel.

The opposition party shared a photograph of the meeting on its Twitter handle in which Mr Surjewala is seen sitting next to Mr Shivakumar and the Karnataka government's Additional Chief Secretary Rakesh Singh, BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath, and other government officers were present.

According to the BJP Karnataka unit, the meeting took place at a private five-star hotel.

"What is the secret of #ATMSarkara?' ATMSarkara's clandestine meeting at Shangri-La Hotel, Bengaluru? What has Congress state in-charge Randeep Surjewala to do with the senior BBMP officials, who have no official relationship with either the state government or BBMP? Is this an 85 per cent deal-fixing meeting? Please answer @Siddaramaiah Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and @DKShivakumar D K Shivakumar," the BJP tweeted.

Former chief minister and JDS second-in-command HD Kumaraswamy too raised the issue in a tweet seeking to know whether there is a Siddaramaiah government or "10 Janpath" government in the state. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)