Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)
Bengaluru, May 23: Sensing that the number of posts of deputy chief minister being demanded on the basis of caste affiliation has been increasing by the day, Congress leadership is learnt to have backtrack from its earlier decision to create two posts of deputy chief minister in Karnataka. In all likelihood, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, Dr G Parameshwar, will be the only deputy chief minister of the Kumaraswamy cabinet.
Constitonally, there is no separate deputy chief ministerial post. Parameshwar would be formally inducted into the state cabinet on Wednesday evening, but technically he would be designated as deputy chief minister.
Initially, Congress had proposed to create the post of deputy chief minister for Lingayat community. But there has been a tough tussle among Lingayat legislators of the party for this post. It is said that there has been threat of mass resignations if the post is offered to certain leaders. The competition for the post between Shamanur Shivahankarappa, S R Patil and M B Patil has hotted up. MLAs and leaders of Lingayat community have been building pressure on the Congress to offer the post of the deputy chief minister to Shivashankarappa. Reports say that Siddaramaiah is strongly backing S R Patil's candidature while M B Patil, who has good connections with party high command, has been doing everything within his command to bag this post.
Still, Congress had hoped to conduct a meeting of Lingayat leaders and strike a consensus. Legislators from some other communities, observing that Lingayats have been building pressure, began to demand the said post to their communities too. D K Shivakumar representing Vokkaligas, Satish Jarkiholi from Nayaka community and Roshan Baig representing Muslims are the other leaders who are in the race for the post of the deputy chief minister, and who have rightfully demanded this post, considering the sway they have on these communities. Sensing trouble, Congress is said to be positively thinking in terms of giving this post to one person.
The party leadership, it is said, came to the conclusion that giving the post to any other community would foment trouble. Therefore, the leaders finally decided to choose only one deputy chief minister and give the post to Dr G Parameshwar, a dalit.