10 Congress MLAs meet Siddaramaiah,call it 'courtesy visit'

Ten Congress leaders, including two ministers, called on former chief minister Siddaramaiah in Dharmasthala on Wednesday. The leaders called the meeting as courtesy visit. Two ministers Shivanand Patil and Ramesh Jarakiholi and eight MLAs met with Siddaramaiah in naturopathy hospital in Dharmasthala, where the later is undergoing treatment.

Siddaramaiah, Congress Legislative Party leader in the alliance government, has been in Dharmasthala for the last 10 days. According to reports, the leaders held discussions with Siddaramaiah for 30 minutes and Health Minister Shivanand Patil spoke to the leader in private. However, Shivanand Patil denied political discussion with Siddaramaiah. Patil said, " I am not here for political reasons. I came to call on Siddaramaiah's health. Being a health minister I came to interact with Siddaramaiah about the issues related to my ministry." Patil categorically said, "None of us discussed any political issue." Siddaramaiah is about to be discharged tomorrow hence the meeting has raised many questions in the political circle. Congress MLA Narayana Rao told media not to speculate about issue related to the meeting.