Sonia Gandhi unhappy with Karnataka state Congress chief G Parameshwara for attacking state government

BENGALURU: The Congress party is worried that its state unit in Karnataka has almost become defunct. The perception, reportedly promoted by CM Siddaramaiah’s camp, has gained so much weight in the party circles in New Delhi that party president Sonia Gandhi is reportedly intervening decisively to change the state unit president.

The term of the current incumbent G Parameshwara, a Dalit, was extended by two years in 2013 and is set to end in October this year. Parameshwara has been nursing ambitions of becoming Karnataka’s deputy CM. He has been lobbying for the post since the party came to power in 2013 and in February this year, some of his supporters even scaled up the demand by asking for a Dalit CM in place of Siddaramaiah.

A senior leader from the party told ET that Sonia, after a recent meeting with former external affairs minister SM Krishna, has backed Siddaramaiah and categorically ruled out creating a deputy CM post for Parameshwara. "She has said it is not the party’s policy to have a deputy CM, except in a coalition situation," the leader said.