Surjewala is not interfering in administration: Karnataka Home Minister

Davangere (Karnataka): Senior Congress leader and Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Sunday ruled out any interference by AICC general secretary in-charge of the state, Randeep Singh Surjewal into administration, as he termed opposition parties calling him "super CM" as mere allegations, which is far from truth.

He said as the party's general secretary in-charge, Surjewala's repeated trips to the state is natural, as he has to keep watch on whether the Congress government is implementing promises made to the people in its manifesto before polls.

As Surjewala recently held a series of one-on-one meetings with ruling party MLAs and ministers, opposition BJP and JD(S) took a dig at the Congress, calling him "super CM".

They had also claimed that the Congress high command, which had completely lost confidence in CM Siddaramaiah, has imposed a "Randeep rule" in Karnataka.

Responding to a question on the opposition's criticism of calling Surjewala "Super CM", Parameshwara said, "They are mere allegations. There is no truth in it. Surjewala is our party general secretary in-charge. He has been appointed by AICC. There is nothing new in it. He was there before the elections and even now.

Naturally, he keeps visiting the state to look into whether the government is fulfilling the promises made by the party in the manifesto ahead of polls." Speaking to reporters here, he clarified that Surjewala has neither called any officials for a meeting, nor has he given any instructions to them. There is no interference into the administration by him.

"The BJP and JD(S) are purposely making unnecessary allegations and there is no truth in it," he added.

There have been allegations about Surjewala holding meetings with some of the state government officials, but they have been denied by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar.

Responding to a question, Parameshwara said Surjewala holding one-on-one meetings with MLAs and ministers is the Congress party's internal matter.

"What does the BJP have to do with it? Don't their party general secretaries visit the state and hold meetings with BJP leaders and workers here? Similarly, our general secretaries too come. Our party needs to check whether we are fulfilling the promises made to the people or not," he added.