Min Ramalinga Reddy's resignation issue resolved: Karnataka CM Shivakumar

Shivakumar met Reddy for nearly 2.5 hours at a private hotel in Jayanagar late on Friday night amid efforts by the Congress leadership to persuade the veteran leader to withdraw his resignation

Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar early on Saturday said that the crisis triggered by Minister Ramalinga Reddy's resignation over portfolio allocation has been resolved after marathon discussions with the senior Congress leader.

Shivakumar met Reddy for nearly two-and-a-half hours at a private hotel in Jayanagar late on Friday night amid efforts by the Congress leadership to persuade the veteran leader to withdraw his resignation.

The meeting went on till the wee hours of Saturday.

Senior Congress leaders and some of Reddy's close associates were also involved in the discussions.

"This is a family matter. We will all sit together and talk. Everything has been resolved," Shivakumar told reporters after emerging from the meeting around 1.30 am.

 

"He has expressed his grievance; it was a case of miscommunication. Something has happened, and we will sort it out. Don't worry, we will run everything first-class. We have given opportunities to all senior leaders, and we will set everything right," Shivakumar said and expressed confidence that the government would move forward unitedly.

Emphasising his long-standing association with the senior minister, he said, "Ramalinga Reddy and I have been friends since 1980. At present, I am working as the chief minister; earlier, I was a minister, and he is a minister. We are all friends." Reddy had announced his resignation on Friday, alleging that assurances made to him regarding the Bengaluru Development portfolio had not been honoured after the allocation of portfolios in the newly formed Shivakumar government.

Asked whether he would withdraw his resignation if the chief minister requested him to do so, Reddy refrained from elaborating and echoed Shivakumar's remarks.

"I am saying the same thing that he (CM) told you. Everything has been resolved. That's all," Reddy said.

The late-night meeting came amid intense efforts by the Congress leadership to contain discontent within the Cabinet after Reddy's resignation triggered the first major political challenge for the three-day-old Shivakumar-led Congress government.