'Did Shivakumar tell you this?': Siddaramaiah loses cool over question on deputy's 'November coronation'

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah lost his cool on Friday when he was asked to comment on speculation that his deputy DK Shivakumar had fixed a date in November to take oath as the new head of the government.

Siddaramaiah became confrontational with reporters at Vidhana Soudha when pointed out that Shivakumar would take oath as the chief minister on November 21 or 26 as per a local media report.

“Who told you? Did Shivakumar tell you this?” Siddaramaiah asked, before walking away peeved.

The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government will complete two and a half years, the halfway mark in its tenure, on November 20.

It is being widely discussed in political circles that Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Congress president, will move to stake claim on the chief minister’s post after November 20 as per the rumoured power-sharing agreement with Siddaramaiah. It is further speculated that Shivakumar has set a ‘deadline’ for himself to fulfil his chief ministerial ambition.

Shivakumar has maintained restraint by not publicly confronting Siddaramaiah or his camp members.

Asked about Shivakumar’s ‘deadline’, Social Welfare Minister HC Mahadevappa, a Siddaramaiah loyalist, said: “How will I be privy to such big matters? Only the CM, party president (Shivakumar) and the high command will know.”

Housing Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, also a Siddaramaiah camper, urged Shivakumar to aspire for the CM’s post after 2028.

“Siddaramaiah will be the CM until 2028,” Zameer said. Zameer went on to dismiss the idea that Shivakumar would join hands with the BJP if he is denied the CM post. “Shivakumar has Congress in his blood. It is natural for Shivakumar, like many others, to have chief ministerial aspiration. If Shivakumar becomes the CM after Siddaramaiah, we’ll be happy for him. But the seat isn’t vacant until 2028,” he said.

Dalit CM: ‘Party may be waiting, watching’

Amid demands for a Dalit to become the CM in the event of Siddaramaiah being replaced, Mahadevappa said that the Congress high command “may be waiting and watching”.

“Our movement (on Dalit CM) will continue. But it’s the high command that should decide on when it’ll happen,” Mahadevappa said. “Nobody has said that a Dalit can’t or won’t become the CM.”

Mahadevappa maintained that the Congress top brass “is in favour of Dalits” while adding: “Only Dalits, untouchables know their pain.”