No agreement with Shivakumar on power-sharing, will abide by high command decision: Siddaramaiah

Mandya: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said there was no agreement between him and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar over power-sharing, before the Congress came to power in the state, and would abide by the decision of the party high command.

Reacting to Siddaramaiah’s comments, Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress President, said whatever the CM says is final.

“There was no agreement. I will abide by the high command’s decision,” Siddaramaiah told media, in response to a question on Shivakumar’s reported statement that there was an agreement between them, before coming to power.

There was stiff competition between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the CM’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.

Reacting to the CM’s statement, Shivakumar told reporters in Bengaluru: “Once the Chief Minister has said, there is no objection to it…what he, the CM says is final. No objections, I’m always loyal to the Chair, I’m loyal to the party. The CM has said — no (further) question, no discussion , no debate.” Asked if there was no pain, Shivakumar replied, “I have responded to all of that.” To another query whether the cabinet reshuffle was on the cards, the CM said, “not now….” Asked about some MLAs vying for ministerial positions, he said, “…ultimately the high command has to instruct me and I will have to decide. The high command has not told me anything, and I have not decided .” Speculations are rife about a possible cabinet reshuffle and evaluation of the performance of the ministers, ever since the Lok Sabha poll results.

There has also been a demand from a section of MLAs, who are ministerial aspirants, to be inducted into the cabinet. Some have even openly expressed their wish to become ministers.

Responding to a question on ‘Jana Kalyana Samavesha’ in Hassan, Siddaramaiah said, “Tomorrow a convention has been organised jointly by the Congress party and Swabhimanigala Okkuta (federation organisations of oppressed communities).

Probably Swabhimanigala Okkuta will be getting more people for the convention.” While downplaying the change in the name of the convention, he said, “…it is being organised jointly, the Congress party has also joined.” The state Congress led by its President Shivakumar has renamed the convention as ‘Jana Kalyana Samavesha’ from ‘Siddaramaiah Swabhimaani Janandolana Samavesha’, and it is unlikely to be a Siddaramaiah-centric mega “show of strength” event, as was originally planned by his supporters.

The convention was initially organised by the federation of organisations of oppressed communities, in solidarity with the Chief Minister, who is facing allegations in the MUDA site allotment scam.

However, the Congress party’s involvement as the joint host of the event was confirmed by the Chief Minister himself last week, amid reports that a section of leaders within the party were against such an event being organised outside the party framework.

The event, originally aimed at mobilising support for Siddaramaiah amid an investigation into the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment scam, will now also highlight the government’s “pro-people” programmes, especially the guarantee schemes, among other initiatives, party sources said.