Bengaluru, Jan. 14 -- Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday clarified that there is no message from Congress top leader Rahul Gandhi as being reported in the media, and that the latter has only asked the state government to continue the good work.
Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress President, played down speculations regarding his social media post which read "efforts may fail, but prayers won't", linking it with his brief conversation with Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday evening.
Rahul Gandhi's brief conversation with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and his deputy and a claimant for the CM's chair, D K Shivakumar, on Tuesday evening has sparked off speculations, amid the ongoing power tussle between the two.
"I'm the state Congress President, he (Rahul Gandhi) is the leader of Opposition (in Lok Sabha), he was also earlier the Congress President. Can our meeting with him, discussions with him, giving respect to him and receiving him as per protocol -- be discussed in public? You (media) unnecessarily quoting someone off the record are creating confusion and are destroying the respect your TV channels have," Shivakumar said in response to a question.
Speaking to reporters here, he insisted, "There is no message, we met him (Rahul Gandhi). He asked us to continue working in a good way, we will work in a good way. We have informed him about programmes we have planned regarding MGNREGA (Save MGNREGA campaign) in the state. We have also discussed BJP's politics in the state."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.