H Hanumanthappa: Congress leaders should stop 'groupism'

Amid the ongoing discussions within the party to elect the Leader of Opposition in Karnataka assembly, senior Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha MP H Hanumanthappa on Sunday sat on a silent protest in front of the Congress office in Bengaluru.

Speaking to , Hanumanthappa appealed all Congressmen to avoid making factions within the party and work in unison for its betterment.

"Congress needs to survive but the present scenario in the nation is not good for the Congress. Our leaders should stop 'groupism' and start working for the betterment of the party," he said.

Earlier today, party General Secretary Madhusudan Mistry called a meeting with the legislators and party leaders for the selection of Congress leader of opposition ahead of the upcoming Assembly session in the state.

Mistry has asked the Congress leaders to share their opinions for appointing a strong opposition leader in the Karnataka assembly.

Speaking outside the meeting, Ramalinga Reddy earlier in the day stated, "One of the main issues which we discussed was about the selection of opposition leader. Till now, Siddaramaiah and HK Patil are in the contention, however, Siddaramaiah is likely to be chosen as Leader of Opposition."

Former KPCC president Dr G Parameswara held a separate meeting with Madhusudan Mistry on Sunday regarding the election of the leader of the opposition and former Chief Minister Siddaramiah also held talks with Congress leaders MB Patil, HC Mahadevappa, Rizwan Arshad and Narendra Swami.

Commenting on the ongoing party dynamics within the state unit of Congress, a senior leader, on condition of anonymity said, "Looking at the present condition of Congress in Karnataka, most of the senior leaders like KH Muniyappa, BK Hariprasad and H Hanumanthappa are not in favour of one-man party leadership like that of Siddaramaiah."

"Some of the leaders are not in the favour of both contenders (Siddaramaiah and HK Patil). Our motive is to safeguard the Congress Party, not to safeguard single man," the Congressman stated.

"The Congress does not have any familiar face in Karnataka who can lead the party from the front and Siddaramaiah is the only leader who can lead the party in Karnataka," another Congress leader stated.

The three-day assembly session starts from October 10 and after the arrest of senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar, the party is facing an uphill task to tackle the newly-formed BJP government on major issues including flood relief.

( With inputs from ANI )