BENGALURU: With AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge sending out a message that the high command has arrived at a decision on change in leadership, as claimed by Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi, the CM Siddaramaiah camp seems to be prepared to anoint an AHINDA leader to the top post to counter the DCM DK Shivakumar camp. This is because Kharge is said to favour Shivakumar for CM and his son Priyank Kharge as DCM, sources said.
Satish, who has reiterated that he is not in the race for the CM post in the present tenure, is said to have chalked out a strategy to pitch Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara, a Dalit, for the top post. The Siddaramaiah camp is asserting that he should continue as CM for the full term and if it’s inevitable for him to step down, a Dalit should succeed.
Their logic is that since Congress came to power with the backing of AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits), a Dalit deserved the top post. Satish, being projected as an ideological heir to Siddaramaiah, is leading from the front.
He had also led a delegation of legislators to Kharge recently and is said to be planning to take some of his loyalist MLAs on a trip out of the state, sources said.
At Kumta, Satish told reporters that the CM was selected for five years and there will be no change until the term ends. He said the debate is still going on about a Dalit being chosen as CM. “But that doesn’t mean a discussion becomes a reality. There are many aspirants for the post, but ultimately the party high command will decide,” he said.