MYSURU: Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said repeatedly raking up the issue of making a dalit the chief minister is an insult to the community. He said those who wanted it to happen would have done something about it during the elections.
He told reporters during a visit to Suttur that the issue was “irrelevant” at this point of Siddaramaiah’s term, adding that a decision on this would be taken “at the right time”. He criticised the media for giving publicity to the issue, saying it would only result in differences between dalits and others.
However, on Oscar Fernandes’ recent statement that the Congress had plans to elevate a dalit to the top post, Kharge said he may not have access to the information Fernandes has. But this is a stable government and the chief minister and his cabinet are doing a good job. So no one should try to destabilise it, he said.
He also accused the BJP of making a mountain out of a molehill on the Arkavathy denotification issue as “Siddaramaiah has already given clarification on the matter”.
Kharge said he was hopeful that the Congress would fare better in the Delhi Assembly elections this year compared to the previous year. He expressed confidence that the party’s base had grown since 2014.
He sidestepped a query on when, and if, Rahul Gandhi would be elevated to the post of AICC president, saying for now, the Congress was well led by Sonia Gandhi as president and Rahul as vice-president.