BALLARI: Health and family welfare minister B Sriramulu is still nursing hopes of being made a Deputy Chief Minister by the high command.
Despite stating that he will abide by the responsibilities entrusted in him by the BJP state command, some of his statements and those of his supporters seem to give traction to his aspirations.
Speaking to media persons in Ballari, he cited the statements of Valmiki Gurupeetha Prasanna Ananda Swamji of the Rajanahalli mutt in Harihartaluk in Davanagere district, who had demanded that Sriramulu should be made DyCM.
He repeated this statement adding that people and seers were hoping that he becomes a DyCM. “I am not going to react to the seer’s statement, but it is the wish of all seers and people that I should become Deputy Chief Minister. I hope our leaders will understand their wishes,” he said.
Echoing the same sentiment is Ballari City MLA Gali Somashekhara Reddy and his brother Gali Janardhana Reddy, who also demanded that Sriramulu be made a Deputy CM, as promised by the BJP High Command earlier.
Reddy, who had kept mum all these days, finally broke his silence during the Valmiki Jayanti celebrations in Ballari.
“He should be made a Deputy Chief Minister. I am unaware as to why the proposal to make him a DyCM was dropped,” he said.
Incidentally, Sriramulu belongs to the Valmiki community, which forms a sizeable chunk of Ballari district’s populace.
He said that earlier, BJP national president Amit Shah himself had announced during his visit to the district that Sriramulu would be made a DyCM.“We do not know what happened and why he was side-lined,” he said.
Reddy also expressed his displeasure over Sriramulu not being made the district in-charge minister of Ballari. “It is a question of the development of Ballari,” he said.