BELAGAVI: As if dissension and threats of revolt weren’t enough, more trouble appears to be brewing in the Congress party ahead of the cabinet expansion scheduled on December 22. A handful of senior party legislators want former chief minister Siddaramaiah to be removed from the posts of Congress legislature party (CLP) leader and chairman of the coordination committee.Besides other issues discussed at a meeting — attended by senior Congress legislators including R Ramalinga Reddy, R Roshan Baig, MTB Nagaraj and HM Revanna, once a confidant of Siddaramaiah, among others — in Belagavi recently, Siddaramaiah’s reported indifference when it came to lobbying for them to be inducted into the cabinet was discussed.Another major issue was the delay in holding the CLP meeting. Usually, it is held either before the legislature session commences or a day after, but this time it was postponed since Siddaramaiah left for Malaysia to attend a wedding. The CLP meeting is now scheduled on December 18.“Who does he think he is?” thundered one MLA. “The man does what he wants and asks us to follow his lead like schoolchildren. Like him, several of us are also four, five, six and even seven-time MLAs.”Sources say the 8-10 MLAs who attended the meeting took pains to clarify that they are looking for “a change in leadership”, but do not want the government to fall. They are only miffed with Siddaramaiah’s style of functioning.To bolster their demand, the MLAs have decided to approach Mallikarjun M Kharge, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha . “Currently, Kharge is in Chattisgarh helping with post-victory decisions. Once he is free, we will approach him to get the high command to accede to change,” said another MLA.K Prathap Chandra Shetty’s elevation as chairman of the legislative council is being construed as a blow to Siddaramaiah, who batted for former minister SR Patil. This group of MLAs wants one of them to be appointed head of the CLP and coordination panel.

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