BENGALURU: Amid bandh call on August 2 demanding a separate state for North Karnataka and allegations of discrimination by the state government between regions, the Congress has assured to give higher representation to North Karnataka in the Cabinet. KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao on Thursday denied all allegations of the coalition government being pro-South Karnataka.
“We have to accept that there is a shortage of representation for North Karnataka in the Cabinet. We will set it right. Bigger representation will be given to North Karnataka in the next Cabinet expansion out of the six seats that Congress has,” Dinesh Gundu Rao said. Rao added that the Cabinet seemed to be south-heavy only because JD(S) legislators had won largely from southern districts.
“We are glad that the party realises that North Karnataka has not received good representation in the Cabinet. Time is now to iron out differences,” said a senior Congress legislator from the North Karnataka region, who is also a ministerial berth aspirant.“There is no bias against North Karnataka. Kumaraswamy’s budget needs to be seen as a continuation of Siddaramaiah’s budget. Developing the entire state is our priority,” Rao said.
The KPCC chief was responding to the backlash that Kumaraswamy has been receiving for his statements against voters of North Karnataka. When asked about dissent brewing within the Congress, Rao said that there was neither dissent nor camps within the party. “There is just one camp- the Congress camp and I belong to that camp,” he said.