BENGALURU: Dalits, OBC organisations, and swamijis threw their weight behind Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, indicating he is likely to continue as the undisputed leader of the AHINDA. This will help him put the Dalit CM issue on the back burner. Recently, the religious heads from their communities, except for minorities, under the leadership of Kuruba community religious head, met Siddaramaiah and extended their support to him recently.
Interestingly, Sri Madara Chennaiah Swamiji, whom RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat met at his mutt in Chitradurga, was also part of the delegation. The Dalit leaders have also extended their unconditional support to Siddaramaiah.
It is evident that none of the Dalit organisations have ‘risked’ raising the issue of Dalit chief minister as no Dalit leader in the state laid claim to the top job. Noted activist Sridhara Kaliveera, formerly with BSP, felt that there was no Dalit leader who could assert himself as the next CM. “Hence the Dalit CM issue did not come up,” he said.
When then former deputy chief minister and now Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara lost the 2013 Assembly elections from Koratagere despite running for the chief minister’s post as the KPCC president, the Dalit chief minister issue became a bone of contention.
Some organisations had even hit the streets, demanding that Mallikarjun Kharge be made the CM. But the then AICC president Sonia Gandhi asked Kharge, then minister in the UPA-II government, to pacify the activists which was promptly done.
After the 2018 Assembly polls, Siddaramaiah found himself without the backing of a section of AHINDA. The thumping Congress victory has ensured that Siddaramaiah gets back his throne. The lack of strong leadership in the rival parties including BJP and JDS from these communities is one of the reasons that the CM has emerged as their strongman, observed political pundits.
WILL WORK TO CREATE SENSE OF SECURITY, SAYS CM
CM Siddaramaiah said a fearful atmosphere on Thursday was created for Dalits, Backward and minorities in the state and the state government will work to restore a sense of security among them. The CM was interacting with representatives of Eddelu Karnataka organization on Thursday. He reiterated that moral policing will not be tolerated. “We will need Rs 59,000 crore/year to implement the guarantees. For the rest of the current year, Rs 41,000 crore is needed,” he said.