Now, Rajanna smells trouble for Cong government without more deputy chief ministers

Senior Cabinet member K N Rajanna on Wednesday justified his demand for more deputy chief ministers by linking it to the Congress government’s longevity after the Lok Sabha polls next year. 

Rajanna’s push to have three more deputy chief ministers - one each from the Veerashaiva-Lingayat, SC/ST and minority communities - is seen to have created some unrest within the Congress.

It was seen as a counter from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s camp to Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is believed to be nursing chief ministerial ambitions after the Lok Sabha polls. 

Sticking to his stand, Rajanna, the cooperation minister, said having three more deputy CMs would help Congress in the Lok Sabha polls. 

“The Lok Sabha polls are crucial for the country, our state and the government. We have to win more seats in Karnataka. If we win less seats, then a slogan will be floated (by BJP) that we lost the mandate of the people and that we must resign. That’s what I anticipate,” Rajanna said. 

“In 1977, when B D Jatti (was President of India), Charan Singh (then union home minister) dismissed Congress governments in six states after the Lok Sabha polls saying they had lost the mandate. In Karnataka, in the 1985 election, Ramakrishna Hegde dissolved the government after his candidates lost the Lok Sabha polls. There’s all this history. Who is to say that it won’t happen again? So, keeping all this in mind, we must win more seats,” Rajanna said. 

The minister’s concern overlaps with claims made by some BJP leaders that the Congress government will face instability after the Lok Sabha polls next year.

Rajanna said there is nothing wrong with his demand. He also rejected speculation he sought three more deputies at the behest of Siddaramaiah. “I’ve neither met Siddaramaiah nor have I discussed this with him,” he said, adding that having more deputies would not belittle Shivakumar. 

“If deputy CMs are made, we’ll get more support than what we have now. This is what I have suggested. I’ve not said who should be made deputy CM. I’ve also clarified that I’m not an aspirant at all,” Rajanna said. 

Rajanna even said he was unaware of any decision that Shviakumar would be the “only deputy CM.” He said: “No one has told me about it. If I was aware, I wouldn’t have proposed this.”