BENGALURU: With the leadership tussle between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and DCM DK Shivakumar unlikely to die down till the intervention of LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, a section of Dalits is planning a rally to push for a CM from their community.
Several Dalit leaders are exerting pressure on Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara, the prominent Dalit face in Karnataka, to give the go ahead for the rally in Old Mysuru Region. A group, led by Venkataramanaswamy, also known as Papu, from Chamarajanagar, met him in Tumakuru on Sunday and sought his dates for the event. However, Parameshwara advised them to wait for some more time.
Being a member of the Siddaramaiah camp, Parameshwara feels the former would continue as CM and that is the reason he is hesitating to back the Dalit rally, sources said. Parameshwara, a loyalist of the Nehru-Gandhi family and an aide of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, is not ready to go against them, they added. He met Kharge, but what transpired between them was not known even as he termed their meeting a courtesy call.
“Since Parameshwara is a staunch Congress loyalist, he should be made CM if Siddaramaiah has to step down,” said DSS leader Mavalli Shankar, adding that a Dalit rally will be organised soon to give this demand a push. “The top post has been elusive for Dalits since Independence as many senior leaders missed the bus. It should not be the case this time,” he said.
Meanwhile, AHINDA organisations have started preparations to hold rallies across the state, including in Mysuru and Hubballi, to back Siddaramaiah to continue in the top post. A rally has also been planned in central Karnataka, either in Haveri or Davanagere, sources said.
Have faith my party will decide my future: DKS
Amid the change in leadership tussle in the Congress government, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said he has faith in the party and it will decide his future as well. Shivakumar said more than outsiders, some people from his own community are criticising him out of jealousy. “They are stabbing me in the back.
All this is natural in politics. One should not lose peace . We must remain honest,’’ he said. Shivakumar also said when Union minister and JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy was chief minister, he had worked honestly. “Yet, Kumaraswamy accused me of stabbing him in the back. I do not need anyone’s certificate. It is enough if I satisfy my conscience,’’ he said.