Congress high command’s decision is final on three more Deputy CMs, says Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah
The Hindu
A section Congress leaders believe that the statement by Ministers seeking three more Deputy Chief Ministers is part of the strategy by Siddaramaiah’s loyalists to keep D.K Shivakumar in check amid talks that he might seek the Chief Minister’s post after two-and-a-half years of this government’s tenure, and to counter his influence, both in the government and the party.
With the demand to create three more posts of Deputy Chief Ministers cropping up again, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the decision is up to the Congress high command.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru on June 26, Mr. Siddaramaiah said, “Whatever the high command decides is final.”
Some Ministers have been lobbying that leaders from Veerashaiva-Lingayat, SC/ST and minority communities be given the post of Deputy Chief Minister. At present, KPCC chief D.K. Shivakumar, a member of the Vokkaliga community, is the only the Deputy Chief Minister in the Siddaramaih-led government.
A section Congress leaders believe that the statement by Ministers seeking three more Deputy Chief Ministers is part of the strategy by Mr Siddaramaiah’s loyalists to keep Mr Shivakumar in check amid talks that he might seek the Chief Minister’s post after two-and-a-half years of this government’s tenure, and to counter his influence, both in the government and the party.
Co-operation Minister K.N. Rajanna, Housing Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan, Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi, and a couple of others, all considered close to the Chief Minister, raised the demand for three more Deputy Chief Ministers. Mr Jarkiholi even went to Delhi to meet the central leaders and present his case for more deputy CMs in the State Government.
Mr. Siddaramaiah congratulated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his elevation to the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha on June 26.
The Chief Minister had suggested and moved a proposal at a recent Congress Working Committee meeting in Delh in this regard.
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