Minister Zameer’s antics miff Congress big guns

Bengaluru: Yet again Zameer Ahmed Khan, state minister is rubbing the party leadership on the wrong side. On Tuesday he put out a tweet showing himself, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar participating in a meeting with the BBMP top officials. Though the tweet was taken off within hours, it has given the opposition BJP a beating stick and thoroughly embarrassed the Congress All India General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala.

DK Shivakumar as always did a splendid crisis management by defusing the situation by giving a new narrative about the tweet and taking the media attention away from the issue. The sources inside the party point out that Surjewala who is a seasoned politician was pointing out that he was not involved in any meeting with the BBMP officials, he had no role to take part there.

DK Shivakumar also corroborated the same statement and said he as a Deputy Chief Minister had not called for any meeting with the BBMP officials nor did Zameer Ahmed Khan had called. It was a casual meeting and had no official stamp. Surjewala was there to accompany me on the city rounds and we both stopped at the hotel for a cup of coffee and nothing more.

But the tweet by Zameer Ahmed Khan had depicted that there was a meeting of the BBMP officials headed by the Commissioner of BBMP and others along with DK Shivakumar and Surjewala. This is not the first time that Zameer Ahmed had embarrassed the leadership. He had made a comment stating that his community (Muslims) was bigger than that of the Vokkaliga community which makes him the best candidate for the Chief Ministerial candidate. This had angered the Vokkaligas in both Congress and BJP. The JDS had also come down heavily on him for making such communal statement.

HD Kumaraswamy of JDS and R Ashok, a tall Vokkaliga leader of BJP had unequivocally told “Whatever Mr Khan says about his chances of becoming a Chief Minister face within his party should not be taken seriously, but he has made a comment on my community is what I am upset about. Let him not compare any community in this state, and let me warn him against speaking anything about Vokkaligas Ashoka stated. ‘However, I am happy that he has exposed himself as a communal politician which is a big blow to Congress’, Ashoka added. In the present gaffe of the tweet Surjewala has conveyed his displeasure and dismay to the Congress state Chief it is learnt.