Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar
Credit: PTI photo
New Delhi: “I love to remain an ordinary worker of the party. I want to work without any post or position,” Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said here on Wednesday.
Shivakumar, who was in the national capital to attend meetings related to his departments, was speaking to media persons.
When asked whether he was happy to continue as the deputy chief minister for the entire five-year term, he said, “I love to be a party worker more than any position. I have been a party worker since 1980, and I will continue to be one.”
He also added that during this tour to the national capital, he did not want to meet any party top leaders.
About speculation of a possible change of leadership in the state after Makar Sankranti, which falls in mid-January, the Vokkaliga leader said, “Where is the speculation? It is only in the media. There is no such speculation either in the government or the party.”
To a question about whether he was holding meetings with MLAs, he said that in politics, meeting people is part of the profession.
“We keep meeting people, whether it is media persons, politicians, party workers, industrialists, or bureaucrats. No need to attach anything special to it.”
Reacting to a question on former Minister KN Rajanna's latest letter to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleging that poor poll management by Shivakumar cost the party a few seats in the last Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, the deputy chief minister said, “I have a lot to learn about the management of elections.”
On preparations by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah followers to hold an Ahinda rally in Mysuru soon, Shivakumar said, “I wish good luck to everyone.”
Amid the political row over Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi being pitched as the party's prime ministerial face over her brother Rahul Gandhi, Shivakumar dismissed such speculations, stating that Rahul will be his and his party workers' leader.
He also brushed aside any such aspirations on Priyanka's part, saying that she is dedicated to making her brother the Prime Minister of India.
“I am not aware of these issues. My leader is the AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge, and my leader of the opposition is Rahul Gandhi. They are at the helm of affairs and function with the guidance of Sonia Gandhi. No names should be speculated. The Congress party will take a decision. Priyanka Gandhi's only motive is to make Rahul Gandhi the PM of this country,” he said.
Murmurs have started about Priyanka being the potential PM face of Congress after her husband Robert Vadra endorsed her name.