Mallikarjuna Kharge Clarifies That the Talk of Creating Three Posts of Deputy Chief Minister in the State Is Just Speculation

 Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC President D.K.Shivkumar has strongly opposed the creation of the post of three new Deputy Chief Ministers in the state. Shivakumar has sent a message to the High Command that he will quit the Cabinet if the post of additional Deputy Chief Ministers is created. Ministers Satish Jarakiholi, Dr.G. Parameshwar, K.N. Rajanna, Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa, Dinesh Gundurao, K.H. Muniyappa, MB Patil, and Chief Minister's Economic Adviser Basavaraja Rayareddy met State Congress in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala who came to Bangalore on Janv. 8th, 2024, and made their demands. Shivakumar has expressed his opposition to the creation of a new post of Deputy Chief Minister. It is reported that a team of seven ministers met Surjewala last night and agreed to create the post of Deputy Chief Minister. As soon as it was known, D.K. Shivakumar spoke to AICC general secretary Venugopal on the phone. However, DKS said that he would stay out of the cabinet and work only as KPCC president. This stand of Shivakumar has become a hot fat for Congress leaders. On the one hand, the minister's pressure to create a deputy chief ministership, on the other hand, DK Shivakumar's opposition has put the high command in a quandary as to what decision to take.

Kharge gave this clarification after party leaders made an open statement about the appointment of three DCMs in Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's cabinet. Speaking to reporters after landing at the airport here for a one-day visit to Kalaburagi, he said that there is no such proposal before the party's high command. If you need more clarification, you can refer to Siddaramaiah, D.K. Shivakumar himself, he said. Such an issue should not come up during the election. For the time being, attention should be paid to the issues of running the government. Attention should be paid to implementing our guarantees. Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar, and Parameshwar are all doing that work. A meeting has been called on Wednesday to discuss the selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. Senior diplomat Kharge said that a meeting will be held tomorrow regarding the selection of candidates from Karnataka. In the meeting, it will be discussed about which candidate should be put in which constituency. The Union of India has decided to go united and united to win the Lok Sabha elections in the country. He said that everyone will work together as one. A multi-unit meeting has been called in Delhi tomorrow. He informed that observers have already been appointed for all polling stations.  Sources in the Congress said that DK Shivakumar has told the seniors that he will resign from the post of Deputy Chief Minister and become the party president and actively participate in the Lok Sabha and focus on winning the party.

DKS has devised a strategy to counter Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's faction, which has blocked the creation of three DCMs at the senior level, and through this, has carried out every strategy to curb the efforts made to create three DCMs. He directly told the seniors that I would not be the Deputy Chief Minister if someone else is appointed. Senior MLAs who were eyeing the post of Deputy Chief Minister were upset but accepted the post on the instructions of the High Command was quiet. As soon as the government completed six months, lobbying for the post of DCM started again and the ministers who had been eyeing the post of DCM for a few days held secret meetings on the pretext of a dinner party. All this has given the high-command leaders a headache. It is interesting to know how the high command will solve the problem of a new DCM created in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress High Command is caught in a dilemma. Just before the Lok Sabha elections. Some ministers are persuading the high command that the creation of three DCMs will be beneficial for the party. It is said that the ministers identified in the inner circle of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah have pressed for the creation of the post of DCM as an indication of the intensity of factional politics in the Congress. The calculation behind the creation of the new DCM is that DK Shivakumar's influence at the government level will automatically decrease if the post of three DCMs will be formed. Knowing all this, D.K. Shivakumar is countering this by using his influence at the high command level to roll his political dice to prevent the creation of new DCM posts.