BENGALURU:
Many of the CM hopefuls in the Congress are now developing ambitions as a result of CM Siddaramaiah’s ally and Minister of Cooperation K N Rajanna’s suggestion to add three more Deputy CMs to the Congress administration in Karnataka.
A Deputy CM position is insufficient, according to senior politician Shamanur Shivashankarappa, who also believes that Lingayats should become CMs. The comment has now stirred up a commotion in the Congress.
Shivashankarappa strongly criticised the Siddaramaiah administration, claiming, “Under the Siddaramaiah administration, Lingayats are being cornered and are not receiving due status. Lingayat officers don’t get promoted to important positions either. He therefore directly voiced his unhappiness with Siddaramaiah’s administration.
“Everything was well while Nijalingappa and J H Patel were the CMs. Now that no one is concerned about us, members of our community are worried. People from our community have not been granted several crucial positions in the government. Shivashankarappa mocked the chief minister, saying, “Siddaramaiah is rolling out the mat for his own community.”
“When I spoke on stage at the Veerashaiva Mahasabha event in Bengaluru, I was honest. Numerous people are denied crucial positions. I haven’t discussed this with any ministers. What will we do with the position of Deputy CM? If it does, CM ought to be involved. For the position of CM, our proposal will be there, he continued.
Earlier, some Congress leaders had suggested that the Lingayat community should be appointed to the position of Deputy CM. Shivashankarappa, however, has asked for the Lingayat community to have its own CM.
