Parameshwara wants Congress High Command to appoint Karnataka chief, CLP leader at the earliest
Bengaluru: As leadership crisis continues in the Congress Karnataka unit, senior party leader G Parameshwara on Wednesday urged the high command to announce appointments for the posts of state president and legislature party leader at the earliest in order to function as an effective opposition.
Targeting the ruling BJP over the delay in ministry expansion, he predicted challenging days ahead of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, once the exercise is carried out.
"We have insisted the high command (Congress) to announce (appointees) soon.
As Delhi elections are on, most probably they are busy with it, but still I request once again our high command to clear this confusion soon, so that we can actively work as opposition to awaken this ineffective government in the state," Parameshwara said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said as there is legislature session from February 17, the party will have to raise issues like "collapse of administration and failure in implementing developmental work."
So the party cannot sit quiet with such a situation and the appointments to these posts should be made at the earliest so that workers can function effectively, he said.
"There may be difference of opinion amongst us, but keeping them aside we will have have to work together in the interest of the party," the senior leader said.
Pointing out that he had called a meeting of senior Congress leaders recently to evolve consensus to work together, Parameshwara said everyone has agreed to that and if the state president is appointed immediately, he can take the responsibility of taking everyone together.
CongressLegislature Party leader Siddaramaiah and stateCongresschief Dinesh Gundu Rao had quit their posts last month after the party posted a poor show, winning only two of the 15 seats in the Decemberbypolls while it had held 12 of them.
Recently power struggle within the state Congresshad come to the fore, with senior leaders openly contradicting each other on appointments for key vacant posts besides issues like splitting posts of Leader of Opposition and CLP leader and creation of multiple Working Presidents post.
While senior leader D K Shivakumar is seen as the front runner for the post of KPCC president, Siddaramaiah is said to have pushed for his confidant M B Patil. He is also said to have demanded four working presidents if his candidate is not considered for the KPCC chief post.
Aimed at retaining the posts that he had resigned from, Siddaramaiah had recently saidthe CongressLegislature Party (CLP) leader and Leader of Opposition (LOP) posts in the state should not be "separated", and be held by one person.
However, Parameshwara and another senior leader H K Patil who are aspiring for the CLP leader post have favoured the split.
Targeting the BJP leadership and Chief Minister Yediyurappa over the delay in the Ministry expansion, Parameshwara claimed there will be more confusion within the ruling party after the cabinet expansion.
"....17 (defectors), they have to give minister post, but now reports suggest 8 or 9 of them will be given, once the cabinet is expanded everything will be clear," he said.
"There will be more confusion after expansion as it will be difficult for Yediyurappa to convince anyone and there are a lot of challenges ahead of him, which is actually causing the delay in expansion, he added.
According to BJP sources, there are talks within the state BJP that the expansion of the Ministry was likely to take place on Friday, and Yediyurappa may travel to New Delhi on Thursday to get final approval from party high command.
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Cummins doubtful for T20 World Cup? It's quite grey right now, says Aus head coach
Melbourne (PTI): Australia skipper Pat Cummins' chances of playing at next year's T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka are "quite grey at the moment" as he battles a back stress issue that has affected his participation in the ongoing Ashes series against England.
Cummins returned to play the third Ashes Test in Adelaide after missing the opening two matches, picking up six wickets to help Australia clinch the series 3-0.
However, the Australian Test and ODI skipper will take no further part in the series and even his participation at the T20 World Cup is also uncertain. All-rounder Mitchell Marsh is Australia's T20I captain.
"Looking forward to the World Cup, whether he will be there or not, I can't really say. It's quite grey at the moment. We're hopeful," head coach Andrew McDonald was quoted as saying by 'ESPNCricinfo'.
The fast bowler was diagnosed with a lumbar stress reaction during Australia's tour of the West Indies in July. He underwent rehabilitation before being cleared for a carefully managed return in Adelaide.
"He's pulled up fine. He won't play any part in the rest of the series and that was a discussion that we had a long time out around his return," McDonald said.
"We were taking on some risk and people that reported on that would understand the risk associated with that rebuild. We've now won the series and that was the goal.
"So, to position him for further risk and jeopardise him long-term is not something that we want to do and Pat's really comfortable with that," he added.
The T20 World Cup is scheduled to begin on February 7 across India and Sri Lanka with the summit clash set for March 8.
Australia's first match is on February 11 against Ireland at Colombo. Although Cummins captains the Test and ODI teams, all-rounder Mitch Marsh leads Australia in the shortest format.
