Belagavi (Karnataka), Jan 17 (PTI) The Karnataka Congress meeting under the leadership of national general secretary in-charge of the state Randeep Singh Surjewala on Friday witnessed heated discussions over construction of a party building in Belagavi.

The leaders expressed dissatisfaction over the lack of contributions from most party members, except for state Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi, who had contributed Rs 1 crore toward the construction of the Congress building at the district headquarters, sources said.

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Jarkiholi's contribution stood out as other leaders allegedly failed to contribute to the project, according to sources.

Surjewala was in Belagavi to oversee preparations for the 'Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan' event scheduled for January 21.

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The event commemorates the centenary of the only Congress session chaired by Mahatma Gandhi in 1924, held in Belagavi.

The event was originally organised for December 26 and 27, but the second day was cancelled following the demise of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Congress has since rescheduled the event.

During the meeting, Surjewala urged members to make the event a success, but the discussion shifted to the issue of inadequate contributions by ministers and MLAs for the Congress Bhavan, sources added.

This matter had previously surfaced during the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting on January 13 in Bengaluru. At the meeting, state Congress president and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar proposed building 100 Congress Bhavans across Karnataka and urged legislators and ministers to contribute generously.

Jarkiholi raised concerns at the CLP meeting about the lack of significant contributions from Belagavi leaders, which sources interpreted as a veiled criticism of Women and Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar, who is also from Belagavi.

In the same meeting, ministers and legislators were instructed not to discuss replacing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, appointing a new Congress state president, or cabinet expansion.

Shivakumar has been serving as state president since 2020 while also holding the Deputy CM post.

Two days later, Jarkiholi held a press conference calling for the appointment of a full-time Congress state president, arguing that ministers cannot focus on party responsibilities while managing their portfolios.

There were speculations that Jarkiholi had been served a notice for violating party directives. However, Surjewala dismissed these claims on Friday, describing them as rumours planted by the BJP.

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