Bangalore, Jul 22: The Congress on Saturday apologised to Muslims for the defeat of party candidate Iqbal Ahmed Saradagi in the recent elections to the Karnataka Legislative Council due to cross-voting.
“We tender apology to the minority community for the defeat of Saradagi,” Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President G Parameshwara, who was accompanied by Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah, told reporters here.
Earlier on saturday, a Congress coordination committee, chaired by the in-charge of party affairs in Karnataka Madhusudan Mistry, held a meeting to discuss the prevailing political scene in the State and the party's strategy for the Assembly elections, due in May next year.
Given its numerical strength in the Legislative Assembly, the Congress was assured of three Council seats but had fielded four candidates hoping to win the fourth one with its own surplus votes, support of independents and possible cross-voting by other two parties, the BJP and JDS.
The party's calculations, however, went awry. Saradagi, who was part of the party's first three choices, was defeated, while its fourth candidate won following cross-voting.
The party's fact-finding committee, headed by MLC V R Sudarshan, had reportedly said in its report that Parameshwara and Siddaramaiah, among others, should also take the responsibility for the reverse and there was a lack of coordination between KPCC and Congress Legislature Party.
The report noted that Siddaramaiah's resignation from the Opposition Leader's post at the time also cast a shadow. Siddaramaiah had tendered his resignation complaining that he was not consulted on the issue of selection of candidates. His resignation was eventually not accepted and he continued in the post.
At the Coordination Committee meeting, the party decided not to have any alliance with the JDS in the Assembly polls. Parameshwara said party leaders would tour all the 224 Assembly constituencies in two phases as part of preparations for the polls, and the tour plan would be chalked out soon.
