A group of ministers from the Siddaramaiah government seeking more deputy chief ministers into the Karnataka cabinet will carry out a ‘Chalo Delhi’ campaign to impress upon the Congress high command to heed to their request.
At least seven ministers have been pressuring for this move and News18 has learned that the state unit has taken a stand of leaving it to the party high command to take a final decision. They claim that more communities should get opportunities to the post to bring a community balance in the Cabinet.
A delegation of ministers expected to meet the AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge said that more communities other than just Vokkaligas should get opportunities to the post to bring a community balance in the Cabinet. Currently, Shivakumar is the only DCM and belongs to the Vokkaliga community. Those who have been raising the demand represent other important SC/ST communities in the state.
The demand for more DyCMs came from senior leaders like state Home Minister Dr G Parmeshwara, Cooperation Minister KN Rajanna, Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi, and Minority Affairs Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan exerting pressure on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to bring in this change. They have demanded for three more DyCM posts, one each for the SC, ST and Backward Classes.
They said that many of the ministers are open to this move, but the decision is now in the CM and DyCM’s court.
Rajanna, an aspirant himself, said, that if there are deputy chief ministers from different communities, it will gain more “love and trust” for the party. This has been a long-standing demand which had gained momentum just before the Lok Sabha polls, stating that community-wise posts of DyCM could be monetised by the party electorally. This was, however, set aside during the elections.
The chinks in the Karnataka Congress and differences between the Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar camps were further exposed and became more pronounced after the Lok Sabha elections.
Internally in the Congress, the camps seeking DyCM posts are upset that Shivakumar has plump portfolios like DyCM, Water Resources, Bengaluru Development and Town Planning, and Bengaluru Urban District, apart from being the KPCC chief. With the Congress winning 9 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, of which four seats belonged and were won in the reserved constituencies, the leaders who belong to these communities want to strike when the iron is hot.
Senior Congress ministers like Satish Jarkiholi are said to have already conducted a round of talks with Kharge on the matter. They now wait for the ministerial delegation, which, insiders say, largely belong to the Siddaramaiah camp, to head to Delhi to make their case. One of the the arguments put forth by the leaders is that in the Assembly and Parliamentary elections, close to 75 per cent of the AHINDA voters voted in favour for the Congress, while the politically dominant Lingayats and Vokkaligas voted in favour of the BJP. This why they feel that the community should be better represented and given plump posts like DyCMs.
Displeased with this development, DK Shivakumar stated that the party will respond appropriately to those seeking additional DyCMs. A section of ministers backing Shivakumar have been campaigning and making open statements that there would be a change of guard in Karnataka soon and he will be made chief minister, replacing Siddaramaiah.
“There will be disciplinary action against those who do not tow the party line,” said a senior leader from the Congress.
Another Congress leader recalled how during the chief ministership of Veerappa Moily, Karnataka got its first deputy chief minister, SM Krishna, and since then, the demand for the post has always been seen as a step up towards the post of a chief minister.
“Another former chief minister, Ramakrishna Hegde, who had what was termed a ‘jumbo cabinet,’ also tried to accommodate as many caste combinations, but it did not serve any purpose. They feel if they become DyCM, then they are on a level playing ground to contend for the CM seat,” said the leader who did not want to be named.
“If only a few people enjoy power, the affection towards the Congress party will reduce among different communities who support the party. As DyCMs, it will be a matter of pride for the communities,” said Rajanna in an earlier media interaction.
Congress spokesperson Ramesh Babu called this move unnecessary at this time. “The party high command will take a call. This is not the time to discuss this,” he told News18.
Priyank Kharge had earlier reacted to this by saying, “If appointing DyCMs will help achieve everything, then there should be one CM and the rest should be made DyCMs. Is that possible?”
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