04:26
Cong shares photo of Lord Hanuman with Rahul Gandhi
This comes amid speculation that a “power sharing or rotational CM” deal had been brokered. Congressional High Command between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar before the formation of government in Karnataka.
No power sharing deal?
Denying talks of power sharing and speculations that Deputy PM DK Shivakumar will take over as CM after two and a half years or after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, PTI quoted Minister MB Patil on Monday evening as saying that Siddaramaiah will remain prime minister for a full five-year term.
01:28
Congress leader MB Patil is sworn in as Cabinet Minister of Karnataka
Apparently shocked by the statement, while Shivakumar unwilling to react said the high command would deal with it, his brother and Bangalore rural MP DK Suresh said he too can respond strongly to what Patil said, but he won’t .
Those extended talks
With both would-be prime minister Siddaramaiah and state Congress President DK Shivakumar hot on his heels, protracted talks involving the central Congress leadership last week preceded their appointments as prime minister and deputy prime minister respectively.
There were reports citing party sources that the high command had put forward the proposal of rotating prime ministers to break the deadlock.
“Siddaramaiah will be prime minister for five years. If there was power sharing or anything, our leadership would have told you (media). There is no such thing. As our AICC secretary general said, the things are continuing,” PTI quoted Patil as telling reporters in Mysuru on Monday, in response to a question: Will Siddaramaiah be CM for five years or is there a power-sharing formula?
When asked about the discussions that the prime minister will change after Lok Sabha polls and Shivakumar would become CM, he said, ‘If there were such things, our AICC secretary general would have told you, when he made the press conference. He said there is no such thing.”
Patil clarified today that his statement before the media on Monday was the reiteration of what AICC secretary general KC Venugopal had told the press, just after announcing the names of Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar as prime minister and deputy respectively prime minister on 18 May.
“When asked about power-sharing, he (Venugopal) had said there is no power-sharing. Power-sharing is with people… I said what Venugopal had said,” he told reporters here.
However, unwilling to respond to Patil’s statement, Shivakumar said, “Let everyone say what they want. The secretary general of the AICC is there, the prime minister is there and the president of the AICC is there…”
While his brother and Lok Sabha member DK Suresh openly expressed disappointment with Patil’s statement.
“Siddaramaiah is the prime minister, if you want more information and reply to MB Patil’s statement, you can meet our AICC general secretary Surjewala (Randeep Singh Surjewala) and collect information. I can also say sharp things, but don’t let me. I can reply to MB Patil’s statement, tell MB Patil — let it not happen,” he told reporters.
Digging into Congress, the BJP’s Karnataka unit sharing the video of Patil’s statement, in a tweet, said, “DK Shivakumar won’t become CM, @siddaramaiah won’t let him become. @MBPatil just sent a direct warning to @ DKShivakumar with this statement!”
The BJP also said that looking at all the developments so far, there are no signs or guarantees that this government will be stable, despite winning a majority.
The government which was born on Saturday, with eight cabinet ministers along with CM and deputy CM being sworn in.
The allocation of portfolios to ministers has yet to take place.
Furthermore, there are plans to expand the cabinet in the coming days and there are many applicants for ministerial chairs.
With PTI inputs
