Siddaramaiah aide K N Rajanna bats for three more DyCMs in Karnataka

Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna on Friday stoked the idea of having three more deputy chief ministers in Karnataka, which could cause ripples in the ruling Congress that is already facing some issues.

Rajanna told reporters that he would write to the Congress high command on appointing deputy chief ministers from the Veerashaiva-Lingayat, SC/ST and minority communities.

Right now, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's deputy is D K Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga who is also the Karnataka Congress president.

"We're headed towards the Lok Sabha polls. We need votes of all communities. Right now, we have an OBC chief minister and one from a forward community as deputy chief minister. Veerashaiva-Lingayats, SC/STs and minorities supported the Congress and that's why the party won (in the Assembly polls). So, the high command should make deputy CMs from these communities," Rajanna said, adding that doing so is in the interest of the Congress.

Rajanna's push comes notwithstanding the Congress' decision in May this year that Shivakumar will be "the only" deputy CM. Given Rajanna's proximity to the CM, this is being seen as the Siddaramaiah camp's plan to keep Shivakumar under check. Additional deputy chief ministers could act as a counterweight to Shivakumar's influence in the government and over the party.

Recently, senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad said either G Parameshwara (home minister) or Satish Jarkiholi (public works minister) should have been made the deputy chief minister.

After the Assembly election results in May, Parameshwara had warned the party of "trouble" if a Dalit is not made the deputy CM. He had said this hours after the Congress decided that Siddaramaiah would be the CM and Shivakumar his deputy. Also, the Congress also had to deal with calls from the Muslim community that one of its leaders should be made deputy CM.

Shivakumar chose not to respond to Rajanna's statement, which could be his signal of disapproval on having more deputy CMs. His brother D K Suresh, the Bangalore Rural MP, said: "Ask Rajanna (about more deputy CMs) because he's the one running the government."

IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge surmised that there is no proposal before the Congress high command on appointing more deputy chief ministers. "Everyone is free to write letters. Nothing stops us from conveying our ideas to the high command. There's internal democracy in our party unlike the BJP," he said.