Janata Dal (Secular) party chief and former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy said on Tuesday that if voted to power, the party is open to the idea of having a Muslim as the chief minister of the state
Speaking to reporters at Kyaluru village in Kolar district, Kumaraswamy said that his party has no objections to including Dalits and women in prominent state positions such as deputy chief minister.
Kumaraswamy is on a Pancharatna yatra that began on November 18. He has been in constant touch with the locals since.
“Muslims are also Kannadigas. So there is no reason why a Muslim cannot become the chief minister of this state. Moreover, the current state government has completely ignored marginalized communities such as Dalits and women’s welfare. It is only in JD(S) that such discussion can take place,” Kumaraswamy told reporters.
Referring to the recent incident in Chamarajanagar where a water tank was “purified” with cow urine after a Dalit woman drank water from it, Kumaraswamy said, “If we come to power independently, then we will respond to problems of the Dalit communities by making a Dalit as a Deputy CM.”
The Pancharatna yatra which was supposed to start earlier but got postponed due to heavy rains in the state finally flagged off on November 18. Kumaraswamy is expected to meet people and interact with them next 30 days.
