Bengaluru: Karnataka premier DK Shivakumar early on Saturday said that the crisis caused by the minister Ramalinga ReddyHis resignation on portfolio sharing has been resolved after marathon discussions with seniors Congress leader.
Shivakumar met Reddy for nearly two-and-a-half hours at a private hotel in Jayanagar late on Friday evening, amid efforts by the Congress leadership to persuade the veteran leader to withdraw his resignation.
The meeting continued until the early hours of Saturday.
Senior Congress leaders and some of Reddy’s close aides were also involved in the discussions.
“This is a family matter. We will all sit together and talk. Everything has been resolved,” Shivakumar told reporters after leaving the meeting around 1.30 am.
“He has expressed his displeasure; it was a case of miscommunication. Something has happened and we will fix it. Don’t worry, we will do everything at the first level. We have given opportunities to all senior leaders and we will fix everything,” Shivakumar said and expressed confidence that the government will move forward united.
Highlighting his long association with the senior minister, he said, “Ramalinga Reddy and I have been friends since 1980. Currently, I am working as chief minister; earlier, I was a minister and he is a minister. We are all friends.”
Reddy had announced his resignation on Friday, alleging that the assurances made to him regarding the Bengaluru Development portfolio had not been honored after the allocation of portfolios in the newly formed Shivakumar government.
Asked whether he would withdraw his resignation if the chief minister asked him to do so, Reddy refrained from elaborating and echoed Shivakumar’s remarks.
“I am saying the same thing he (CM) told you. Everything is settled. That is all,” Reddy said.
The late-night meeting came amid intense efforts by the Congress leadership to contain discontent within the Cabinet after Reddy’s resignation posed the first major political challenge to the Shivakumar-led Congress government in three days.
