Berth pangs: Congmen step up lobbying for 2nd Dy CM post

The Congress is having to deal with intensified lobbying for the creation of a second deputy chief minister’s post.

On Tuesday, former minister M B Patil staked claim for the job, while demanding that a legislator from north Karnataka be appointed deputy chief minister.

“I’m aspiring for the post of deputy CM, but the party high command has to take a final decision,” Patil told reporters. “If a south Karnataka person is getting the CM’s post and Parameshwara is deputy CM, it’s good if a person from north Karnataka also becomes deputy chief minister,” he added. Patil said he would take it up with former chief minister Siddaramaiah.

Besides Patil, other Congress leaders from central and north Karnataka are also vying for the post - Shamanur Shivashankarappa of Davangere (with the backing of the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha), S R Patil of Bagalkot and Satish Jarkiholi of Belagavi.

Meanwhile, a section of Muslim leaders demanded appointment of former minister R Roshan Baig as deputy chief minister. Another section of the community demanded nomination of Chamarajpet legislator B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan for the post and held prayers for the same.

The Congress camp also saw hectic lobbying for ministerial berths. According to sources, women legislators - Laxmi Hebbalkar (Belgaum Rural), Dr Anjalitai Nimbalkar (Khanapur), former Union minister K H Muniyappa’s daughter Roopakala (Kolar Gold Fields) and the late Congress leader Qamar-ul-Islam’s wife Kaneez Fatima (Gulbarga Uttar) are pulling strings to get accommodated.

A section of party leaders from the Varuna constituency petitioned former chief minister Siddaramaiah seeking a berth for his son and their newly-elected MLA Dr Yathindra.

Sources said the Congress and JD(S) camps are fighting over appointment of district in-charge ministers in at least five districts - Tumakuru, Mysuru, Kolar, Chikkaballapur and Vijayapura.

As many as 15 JD(S) MLAs are in the race for Cabinet berths. They include H D Revanna (Holenarsipura), G T Deve Gowda (Chamundeshwari), Sa Ra Mahesh (K R Nagar), C S Puttaraju (Melukote), H Vishwanath (Hunsur), Bandeppa Kashempur (Bidar South), Basavaraj Horatti (MLC), Venkatrao Nadagouda (Sindhanur), B Sathyanarayana (Sira), K Srinivasa Gowda (Kolar), S R Srinivas 'Vasu' (Gubbi), N Mahesh (BSP, Kollegal), H K Kumaraswamy (Sakleshpur) and B M Farookh (party secretary general).