BENGALURU/BELAGAVI : As the issue of change in leadership appears to be approaching its climax, PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi, a close confidant of CM Siddaramaiah, seems to be preparing to take the mantle from his master as the AHINDA leader. Late on Tuesday evening, he hosted a dinner for Dalit-SC/ST MLAs on the sidelines of the meeting of Dalit entrepreneurs.
In all 33 MLAs from all parties, including Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa, Excise Minister RB Timmapur, T Raghumurthy, AR Krishnamurthy, Raghumurty of Congress, Council LoP Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, Duryodhan Aihole and Holalkere MLA M Chandrappa of BJP, Karemma Nayak of JDS, took part.
However, the issue of Dalit CM did not come up, sources said. Some Dalit MLAs from Congress felt that though they wanted a Dalit CM to succeed Siddaramaiah, lack of aggression from Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara was frustrating them, an MLA told TNIE.
Chalavadi Narayanaswamy had reportedly stated recently that Dalits in Congress don’t have the guts to stake claim for the top post. “Kharge is not ready to become CM or to back any other Dalit leader for the top post as he wants to see his son (Priyank Kharge) in that post,” he had alleged.
‘KIADB treating us unfairly’
Members of the Karnataka Dalit Entrepreneurs Association (KDEA) raised the issue of the government’s negligence in releasing grants to them and also KIADB allegedly being averse to allotting industrial sites to them, at a dinner with PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi in Belagavi on Tuesday.
They said the government has not released Rs 300 crore as announced in the budget and another Rs 1,092 crore due for KIADB from 2016 to 2025. Violating the reservation of 24% of total industrial land to SC/STs, 239 acres have been unfairly allocated to others, they alleged.