Bengaluru, Aug 7 (IANS) BJP leader R. Ashoka, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, on Friday criticised what he termed as a four day delay in allocating portfolios to the newly inducted ministers in Karnataka and targeted Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi over it.
He accused the ruling party of being consumed by internal power struggles and alleged that governance had come to a standstill.
Addressing Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, through a post on social media, R. Ashoka questioned whether Karnataka was “a state to be governed or an empire to be looted among your factions.”
Referring to the recent Cabinet expansion, Ashoka said the Congress leadership took two months merely to expand the Cabinet and had not assign portfolios to the 19 newly-inducted ministers even four days after they took oath.
“It took two full months of internal bickering just to expand the Cabinet. Now, four days after taking oath, 19 new ministers are wandering without portfolios while your leaders engage in lobbying for plum departments,” R. Ashoka alleged.
“The entire government is paralysed as Congress handlers run around trying to appease power brokers instead of serving the people,” R. Ashoka alleged.
R. Ashoka further alleged that while farmers, youth, women and businesses expected decisive leadership, the ruling Congress was engrossed in a bitter struggle over portfolios, prestige and political patronage.
“Is this the so-called Karnataka model you keep boasting about?” he asked.
R. Ashoka also criticised what he described as the Congress high command’s “remote-control politics”, alleging that its inability to rein in factionalism had turned Karnataka’s administration into “a laughing stock.”
“The people of Karnataka voted for governance, not endless bargaining over power and positions,” R. Ashoka said.
Urging the Congress leadership to end the stalemate, he called on the government to immediately allocate portfolios to the newly inducted ministers and focus on governance.
“Stop the infighting. Allocate the portfolios. Start governing,” he said.
The criticism comes amid lobbying within the Congress over key portfolios following the Cabinet expansion, with the allocation of departments expected later on Friday.
–IANS
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