Karnataka Youth Congress’s meeting on NEET protest called off after leaders clash
Karnataka Youth Congress vice-president Deepika Reddy said some people tried to push her away when she urged the organisation’s national general secretary to listen to grievances.
The meeting was to discuss a scheduled protest against the NEET UG cancellation. (AI-generated image) Differences within the Karnataka Youth Congress spilt out during an executive meeting on Monday, with rival factions almost coming to fisticuffs after complaints were raised about the leadership of its president, Manjunath Gowda.
The meeting, convened by Youth Congress national general secretary Nigam Bhandari to discuss holding a statewide protest on Thursday against the cancellation of NEET UG, was called off because of the scuffle.
Speaking to reporters, state Youth Congress vice-president Deepika Reddy said some people tried to push her away when she urged Nigam Bhandari to listen to the grievances of a section of workers. Alleging that many elected office-bearers were harassed, she said they were not allowed to raise their voice because of Gowda’s “divide and rule policy”.
Highlighting notices issued by the Youth Congress to 15 office-bearers, Reddy contended that they were the fallout of the grudge Gowda had harboured ever since she contested against him in the organisation’s presidential polls in 2025.
“So we raised the issue during the executive meeting. Then the national general secretary decided to walk out, even as we requested him to listen to our grievance. They (the other group) tried to talk to me rudely. When a woman behaves in such a manner, people try to stop it,” she said.
Meanwhile, Gowda tried to play down the incident.
“There is a protocol. When the state executive meeting is being held, raising another issue is not right. The subject should be discussed,” he said.
Only after the agenda is complete can one-to-one discussions be held, he said, adding, “Some people came late and might not have heard. There was no problem.”
Gowda denied that the Youth Congress has suspended the four district presidents who received notices for “not fulfilling their roles”.
“We had kept the decision on hold,” he said.
Gowda added that Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress president, would take disciplinary action over the scuffle in the meeting.
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