Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday sought to play down the discontent over portfolio allocation in the newly formed Congress government, expressing confidence that Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and the party leadership would resolve issues raised by senior leaders Ramalinga Reddy and K H Muniyappa.
Parameshwara's remarks came amid efforts by the Congress leadership to contain discontent after Reddy announced his resignation from the Cabinet over portfolio allocation and Muniyappa publicly voiced dissatisfaction over the allocation of departments.
"The chief minister and the President of the state unit of Cong will handle all that. There is no problem of any kind. They will handle it," Parameshwara told reporters here.
The Deputy CM said Shivakumar had already initiated discussions with Reddy and indicated that further engagement would follow.
"The chief minister has already met him, and the newly appointed party president will also handle it," he said.
Asked whether the developments were providing ammunition to the opposition, especially with elections approaching, Parameshwara said such situations were not unusual in politics.
"In politics, such things naturally happen. Our job is simply to resolve them and move forward. The chief minister has already said that we must provide good governance. We will proceed accordingly," he said.
When reporters pointed out that Shivakumar's efforts to persuade Reddy had not immediately yielded results, Parameshwara replied, "Even then, they held a very long meeting". "He will meet him once again," he added when asked about further efforts to resolve the issue.
On reports of dissatisfaction expressed by senior minister K H Muniyappa, Parameshwara dismissed suggestions of any serious problem.
"There is no issue with Muniyappa. Yesterday, when all of us were together, Rahul Gandhi asked Muniyappa whether there was any problem. He replied there was no problem," he said.
Speaking about his priorities as Deputy Chief Minister and Revenue Minister, Parameshwara said he had already begun reviewing the functioning of the department and would soon outline a roadmap for the next two years.
"Just yesterday, I held a meeting for two to three hours with officials of my Revenue Department. I will speak specifically about our future-oriented plans, our objectives, and what we can accomplish within a definite timeframe," he said.
Noting that the government had only a limited period to deliver results, he said, "The time available is very short; two years is a very short period. We have to decide what needs to be done for the people of the state through the revenue department". Parameshwara also praised his predecessor, Krishna Byre Gowda, for reforms introduced in the department.
"Krishna Byre Gowda has already done very good work. He has brought about many changes and introduced several new laws and regulations. In fact, he implemented some initiatives that were undertaken for the first time in the country. Those efforts need to be continued," he said.
The deputy chief minister said the government would also focus on issues relating to recruitment, promotions, farmers' concerns at the taluk level, land protection and ensuring that people received their rightful entitlements.
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