Veteran Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa, who is aspiring to become a deputy chief minister, on Thursday met JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda at his Padmanabhanagar residence and held talks with him.
Shamnur, who is the president of Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha, is learnt to have apprised Gowda about the need for accommodating a Lingayat leader as deputy chief minister. Many of the community pontiffs have already urged the Congress-JD(S) combine to make a Lingayat leader as the deputy chief minister.
The Congress had initially mooted a proposal for creating two deputy chief minister posts in order to accommodate a Dalit and a Lingayat. But Gowda is learnt to have shot down the proposal. Shamanur, who is a Lingayat, is a strong contender for the deputy chief minister’s post in the Congress.