Bengaluru: Karnataka Minister for Cooperation K.N. Rajanna, a close confidante of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, had demanded last week that the state should have three Deputy Chief Ministers instead of one.
Rajanna had also said that he will meet the party high command and discuss the possible change in the state.
The demand for three Deputy CMs seems to have created a rift in the Karnataka Congress, with present Deputy Chief Minister and the party’s state unit chief D.K. Shivakumar saying on Monday that he was appointed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
“He (CM) is the right person to answer such questions. I don’t know why Rajanna issued such a statement. The high command and the Chief Minister will get an answer from Rajanna. The party leadership has also written to Congress MLC B.K. Hariprasad, who had challenged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recently,” Shivakumar said.
“I will give an appropriate answer to the concerned person. I don’t have any hesitation in this regard,” he added.
When asked that even after the party high command stated that there will be one Deputy CM, why the proposal for three Deputy CMs has popped up, Shivakumar said that he was busy attending the Congress Working Committee (CWC) in Hyderabad, adding that he will gather more information about this.
When asked about his silence over Hariprasad’s remarks, he said that there is no infighting within the Congress.
“It’s a creation of the media. I have never supported inside politics. I don’t need internal politics,” he said.
Meanwhile, reacting to the proposal of three Deputy CMs, state Home Minister G. Parameshwara said that the matter will be decided by the party high command.
He also said that Rajanna’s opinion on three Deputy CMs is not wrong.
“Let us leave it to the high command. They should question it. I can’t bring it to their notice,” he said.
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