BENGALURU: Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara has said that the party leaders will welcome if AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge becomes chief minister.
“If he (Kharge) were to become the CM, we would all welcome it, as he is such a senior politician with vast experience,” he told reporters here on Wednesday.
“It is our good fortune that Kharge is the AICC president. It is not easy to become the AICC president, and one needs immense capability to handle such a huge responsibility,” he noted.
His statement is significant at a time when the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s camp is planning to float his name for the CM post under Dalit quota if the high command instructed Siddaramaiah to step down. They also have a plan to hold AHINDA rally in one of the places in central Karnataka, including Hubballi where the first rally held in 2005 catapulted Siddaramiah as champion of the minorities, backward classes and Dalits.
Parameshwara has batted for the rally saying it is essential to address the aspirations of the communities.
Meanwhile, former minister Tanvir Sait said that the dispute over the CM post is between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar. He said the party high command should step in to resolve the leadership question. “I have said that the elders in the party should intervene and settle this,” he urged.
“Such details are not known to MLAs or party workers. We don’t know if it (agreement) has happened or not... they (high command) can take whatever decision at any time. Power is not permanent for anybody,” he stated. He, however, claimed that when the party came to power in 2023 the high command had promised to reshuffle the cabinet after two-and- half years of the government to accommodate seniors like him. “Which was why I refused the offer of appointment to boards and corporations,” he claimed.
After the results of assembly elections in five states and bypolls in Davangere South and Bagalakot are declared on May 4, lobbying by the camps of the CM and the DCM for cabinet reshuffle and change in leadership is likely to get intensified as they are planning to visit high command leaders in Delhi, according to sources.
32 SEERS TO PERFORM HOMA FOR DKS
Kalaburagi: As many as 32 seers from the most backward classes have decided to collectively perform ‘Chandika Homa’, praying to the goddess to bless Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar with the chief minister’s post. Pranavanand Swami, pontiff of Karadal Brahmashree Narayana Guru Shakti Peetha of Chittapur taluk, on Wednesday said the ritual will be performed at Amba Bhavani Temple at Gubbi Colony in Kalaburagi on May 5.
The 32 seers will also depart for New Delhi in the first week of May and meet AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and General Secretary K C Venugopal, urging them to make Shivakumar the chief minister of Karnataka. Pranavanand Swami said Shivakumar is someone who does not indulge in politics based on caste or community.
In the last 7-8 years, the DCM has toured the entire state to strengthen the Congress while also working for the party at the national level. The seer also claimed that the high command assured Shivakumar that he will be made CM after Siddaramaiah completes two-and-a-half years. “The high command should fulfil its promise,” he said. Pranavanand Swami also said he and a few other seers met Shivakumar on April 27 and conveyed to him their wish to see him as CM.