'Will the tail wag the dog?': Mahadevappa takes a jab at disgruntled Congress leaders, dismisses leadership change talk

The leadership in Karnataka is strong. There is no discussion on the issue, says the Minister

Karnataka Minister for Social Welfare H C Mahadevappa has yet again dismissed speculation about leadership change in the State and taken a jab at disgruntled Congress leaders publicly discussing the issue with a cryptic "tail and dog" analogy.

“The leadership in Karnataka is strong. There is no discussion on the issue here,” he told reporters on Monday.

When pointed out that some MLAs and Ministers have been for demanding an intervention from the Congress high command, he said, "Who gives directions to the high command? Can you or I give? They must give directions to us. Will the tail wag the dog? There is no discussion about this in the entire leadership."

Mahadevappa, referring to a recent court directive on stray dogs, said authorities have been instructed to catch stray dogs and keep them in shelters. When asked whether he was drawing a comparison between stray dogs and some party leaders who have been speaking openly about a possible change in leadership, he said, “I don’t know, you can analyse. I am just saying what the High Court said.”

This comes as speculation continues over leadership change and power sharing between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his Deputy D K Shivakumar.

Mahadevappa, a supporter of Siddaramaiah, had on February 12 ruled out the latter's exit and said there was nothing "debatable" right now on the issue of leadership. "For now, nothing is debatable," Mahadevappa told reporters. On speculation that Siddaramaiah will have to step aside, he said, "That question doesn't arise."

Shivakumar has meanwhile maintained that “time will tell everything”.

“Time will tell everything. Only I know what I have discussed with Siddaramaiah in our closed-door meeting. I don’t want to talk about this much publicly,” Shivakumar said on February 11.