Expelled BSP MLA N Mahesh says he abstained from voting due to 'communication gap'
Bengaluru, Jul 24: Expelled BSP MLA N Mahesh said Wednesday his expulsion from the party for abstaining from voting in favour of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy was an outcome of a "communication gap" between him and the party leadership because he does not know anything about Twitter.
Soon after the H D Kumaraswamy government lost the majority in the floor test in the assembly on Tuesday, BSP supremo Mayawati expelled him from the party.
"Our party MLA N Mahesh has violated the high command's direction to vote in favour of Kumaraswamy by abstaining from voting, which is indiscipline.
The party has taken a very serious view of it and expelled him from the party with immediate effect," Mayawati had tweeted Tuesday.
She also condemned the way Kumaraswamy government was brought down saying that it will go down in the history of democracy as a "black mark" where the BJP used its money and power to pull down the government.
Defending himself, Mahesh said, "Our party's Karnataka in-charge and Rajya Sabha member Ashok Siddharth had told me to remain neutral after talking to Behen Mayawati," Mahesh said at a press conference here.
Since he did not know anything about Twitter, he was unaware that Mayawati had directed him through her Tweet to support the Kumaraswamy government.
"I don't know anything about Twitter or anything like that. Hence, I came to know (about expulsion) when I was on my way to Bengaluru.
My expulsion was due the communication gap.I feel that in the coming days, it will be rectified," he said.
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CM Siddaramaiah joins Minister Satish Jarkiholi's dinner amid leadership speculation
Belagavi (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, along with a group of Ministers and legislators, attended a dinner hosted by senior Minister Satish Jarkiholi here on December 18, official sources said.
The dinner meeting held at the residence of Jarkiholi, who is considered close to Siddaramaiah, has sparked fresh speculations amid the ongoing power tussle within the ruling Congress over the CM post.
According to sources, the attendees included Ministers G Parameshwara, H C Mahadevappa, B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, M C Sudhakar, and legislators A S Ponnanna, Naseer Ahmed. All of them are considered close to Siddaramaiah.
The gathering followed a dinner on the night of December 17, where Jarkiholi hosted over thirty “like-minded” legislators at a hotel here.
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While Siddaramaiah skipped it, his son and MLC Yathindra Siddaramaiah, confidant and MLA K N Rajanna, were among those who were present.
Responding to a question from reporters, regarding the dinner meet, Deputy CM D K Shivakumar on Friday asked,"What's wrong in meeting for dinner?"
"Let them have dinner, it's a happy thing. Can we say don't have dinner?"
When pointed out that only some people were present at the meeting, Shivakumar replied, "Why should I comment on it? They met over dinner. We have all come from other places (to Belagavi for the session). What's wrong if everyone meets (over dinner)?"
The dinner meetings come a week after over 30 Congress legislators, including some Ministers, met for dinner along with Shivakumar on the outskirts of Belagavi.
While some attendees have dismissed the meetings as "casual dinners" during the ongoing winter session of the state legislature, others suggested that political developments in the state were discussed.
The power tussle within the ruling party has intensified amid speculations about a change in chief minister in the state, after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20. The speculation was fuelled by a "power-sharing" pact between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar in 2023.
However, both CM and Deputy CM had recently held breakfast meetings at each other's residences, on the instructions of the high command, which was seen as a move to pause the leadership tussle between the two and to signal Siddaramaiah's continuation as the CM for the time being, keeping in mind the Belagavi legislature session from December 8.
The winter session of the legislature is scheduled to conclude on Friday.
