How is party responsible for Haris fiasco, asks KPCC chief

In what appears to be a damage-control effort, the Congress on Thursday distanced itself from the entire episode involving Shantinagar legislator N A Haris' son Mohammed Nalapad Haris.  

Miffed that the Haris incident had dented the Congress' image ahead of the Assembly polls, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president G Parameshwara said it was wrong to hold the party responsible for acts carried out by individual members.

Haris' son Mohammed Nalapad Haris is the prime accused in a high-profile assault case and has been remanded in judicial custody.    

"The Congress party is being projected in bad light. How is the party responsible? Someone just happens to be a Congress member. Definitely, it is embarrassing," Parameshwara told reporters.

While the Haris episode was raging, a video showing Congress K R Puram block functionary S Narayanaswamy spewing petrol inside a BBMP office went viral.

"We have expelled Haris' son and suspended Narayanaswamy. Any party worker indulging in such acts will not be protected," Parameshwara said.  

Haris is a second-time MLA from Shantinagar constituency in Bengaluru. His  prospect of getting the ticket to contest the upcoming Assembly elections will be reviewed in the backdrop of the episode involving his son, Parameshwara said.  "While the case involving Haris' son and Haris getting the ticket are two different things, we will consult people through our observers. There's a process we have and if Haris comes through this process, he'll get the ticket," Parameshwara said.  

Rahul tour

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is expected to bring up the Mahadayi river water sharing issue during his three-day tour starting February 24, Parameshwara said. "He may also talk about the government's effort to utilise 259 tmcft from the Almatti dam and overall development of the region," he said.

'BSY has not matured'

Parameshwara flayed BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa for calling Rahul a 'baccha' (child). "I thought Yeddyurappa has matured with age, given his political experience. But, he hasn't. It's wrong for a former chief minister to speak such a way about the president of an age-old political party," Parameshwara said.