Amid various voices in and outside the party being raised in favour of making Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar the Chief Minister, the Karnataka Congress President on Saturday categorically stated that he doesn’t need anyone’s recommendation and that the high command would decide based on his work.
Speaking to reporters at his residence in Bengaluru on Saturday, Mr Shivakumar said, “There is no discussion about Deputy Chief Ministers, and there is no question of discussing the Chief Minister’s position too. The pontiff (Kumara Chandrashekaranatha Swami) has spoken out of love for me. I request that no one make any recommendations. The party high command will decide based on my work.”
Mr Shivakumar further stated, “AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, the Chief Minister, and I have come to a consensus along with the high command on how to proceed in the interest of Karnataka. There is no need for MLAs, ministers, or any religious pontiff to talk about the matter.”
“If they want to support me, let them pray for me, and this should end here. I don’t want any minister to talk to the media about matters of Deputy Chief Minister posts or the post of the Chief Minister. If they continue to issue public statements, I can’t do anything but issue notices to them from the AICC,” Mr Shivakumar warned.
Mr Shivakumar emphasised that discipline was crucial for the party and that without discipline, there was nothing.
“We know how hard we worked to bring the party to power. In the interest of the party, I am telling everyone that keeping quiet will be a service to the party. I humbly request religious pontiffs not to interfere in politics,” Mr Shivakumar said.
When asked about the meeting with MPs and Union Ministers in New Delhi, Mr Shivakumar said, “We met all our MPs and the Union Ministers. Except for two, all of them, including five Union Ministers, attended the meeting. Everyone put aside political differences and assured cooperation in the interest of Karnataka. They have also stated that if officers and concerned ministers approach them, they will follow up on the issues.”
“Honourable Union Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman attended the meeting for over two hours and assured that her commitments to Karnataka from the central government would be fulfilled.
“They claimed there are some technical issues regarding the Upper Bhadra Project. We provided all the required documents to them,” Shivakumar said. “Regarding the Mahadayi project, the two former CMs (Basavaraj Bommai and Jagadish Shettar) have information at their fingertips.
“I assume that, along with Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, they will follow up on the matter in the interest of Karnataka,” he stated.
“On Friday afternoon, we met Union Minister for Road Transport and National Highways, Nitin Gadkari. He told us about roadblocks in the state for the implementation of projects. We are speaking to local MLAs and ministers to resolve the issues. The farmers are demanding deviations of the projects, which is not possible. We will call them and speak with them.
“This evening at 8 P.M., a meeting has been fixed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and I will also be joining the Chief Minister,” he stated.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
