Karnataka Home Minister Parameshwara rejects any power-sharing pact

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Thursday rejected any power-sharing agreement involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar, before Congress formed a government and asked why others should be there, if there was such a pact.

He said ultimately the high command will take a decision and everyone will abide by it.

“We don’t know about any agreement. I don’t know. I asked two-three people about it, both in Delhi and here. No one was saying that there was an agreement. I don’t know the context in which Shivakumar had spoken,” Parameshwara said in response to a question.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had clarified that there was no such agreement.

“If there was such agreement, why should we all be there? Let them both (CM and DCM) do politics and do things. Shouldn’t others be there? Such things are not possible. Ultimately, the high command will decide. We are not distant from the high command. We abide by the high command’s decision. We don’t know about any such agreements,” he added.

Shivakumar had reportedly told a news channel recently that there was an agreement between them, before coming to power, to which Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said there was no such pact, and that he would abide by the high command’s decision.

Reacting to Siddaramaiah’s comments, Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress president, on Wednesday said whatever the chief minister says is final, there is no objection to it.

There was stiff competition between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the chief minister’s post after the declaration of Assembly election results in May last year, and the Congress had managed to convince the latter and made him the deputy chief minister.

There were some reports at the time that a compromise had been reached based on a “rotational chief minister formula,” according to which Shivakumar will become CM after two-and-half years, but they have not been officially confirmed by the party.

Shivakumar has made no secret of his ambition to become chief minister.