Congress Ministers again push for 3 more Deputy CMs in Karnataka
Bengaluru: With demand for three more Deputy Chief Ministers in Karnataka once again coming to the fore, the State Congress chief D K Shivakumar on Monday said the party's central leadership will take a call.
Some of the Ministers in the Siddaramaiah-led cabinet have been pitching for deputy chief minister posts to be given to leaders from Veerashaiva-Lingayat, SC/ST and minority communities.
Currently, Shivakumar from the Vokkaliga community is only the Deputy Chief Minister in the cabinet.
"Party will decide.....I don't know about all those things," Shivakumar told reporters in response to a question on three more Deputy CMs and changing the party state President.
A section within the Congress is said to be of the opinion that statement by the Ministers was part of a plan by Siddaramaiah's camp to keep Shivakumar in check, amid talks he might seek the CM post after two-and-half years of this government's tenure and to counter his influence both in the government and party.
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The Ministers who have pitched for three more DCMs are considered close to Siddaramaiah.
Stating that when power is distributed all communities will show their liking towards the party and it will not be the case only if a few people enjoy power, Co-Operation Minister K N Rajanna said he had proposed a Deputy Chief Minister from Lingayat, SC/ST and minority communities.
"There is an example of BJP doing it in the past," he said. Rajanna earlier too had made a similar demand.
Minister for Housing B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan saw nothing wrong with the demand to have more DCMs.
"Every one will have desire, there will be a demand from all communities for Deputy CM post whether it is Muslim community, Lingayats, SC/ST. From Vokkaliga community D K Shivakumar is there (as DCM). What's wrong in other communities asking? Ours Ours is a high command party, they will decide ultimately, whether to give or not," he said.
Social Welfare Minister H C Mahadevappa said, there is no quota for such posts in the Constitution, and the position is given based on one's capability. "Many Dalit leaders have the capability and based on that it should be given, not on quota."
Asked whether it was an attempt to weaken Shivakumar, he said, "no one can weaken any one. Whatever has to be decided will be ultimately decided by the Congress high command...when I'm asked for my opinion, I will tell the party."
Earlier, Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi too had spoken favouring the proposal, keeping the communities that have stood by the party in mind.
The Congress had reportedly decided that Shivakumar will be "the only" Deputy CM amid stiff competition between him and Siddaramaiah for the Chief Minister's post after the Assembly election results in May last year.
It was also said to be a "commitment" made by the Congress leadership to Shivakumar while convincing him to give up his claim for the CM post and to take up the role of deputy chief minister.
Meanwhile, IT Minister Priyank Kharge termed the demand for more DCMs as their "personal opinion".
"Everyone has the right to ask, let them go and ask the high command, but if every thing will happen only by making more DCMs, let there be one CM and rest all in the cabinet be made DCMs. Is it possible?" he said.
"As Ministers we have to introspect on party performance in the Lok Sabha polls, whether we have given power to party workers, whether we are doing our job as Ministers correctly...place your demand at the right form, not before you (media)," he said.
Home Minister G Parameshwara said: "It is left for high command to decide, if necessary they will do."
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‘Self-styled Vishwaguru stands exposed’: Cong's dig at PM over Pak role in US-Iran ceasefire
New Delhi (PTI): Taking a swipe at the government, the Congress on Wednesday said the role played by Pakistan in bringing about the ceasefire between the US and Iran is a “severe setback” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “highly personalised diplomacy” and “the self-styled Vishwaguru stands thoroughly exposed”.
The opposition party also said Prime Minister Modi's “cowardice is demonstrated by his silence not only on Israel’s belligerence, but on the completely unacceptable and disgraceful language being used by his good friend in the White House”.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the entire world will cautiously welcome the two-week ceasefire in the West Asia conflict between the US and Israel on the one side and Iran on the other.
“The conflict had begun on February 28th with the targeted assassinations of the topmost echelons of the regime in Iran. These had started just two days after Prime Minister Modi had completed his much-trumpeted visit to Israel, a visit that diminished India’s global stature and standing,” Ramesh claimed.
PM Modi had said nothing about Israel’s "genocide" in Gaza and its aggressively expansionist policies in the occupied West Bank, Ramesh said.
“The role played by Pakistan in bringing about the ceasefire is a severe setback to both the substance and style of Mr Modi’s highly personalised diplomacy,” he said.
The policy to isolate Pakistan for its continuing support to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and to convince the world that it is a failed state has clearly not succeeded – unlike what Manmohan Singh had accomplished after the Mumbai terror attacks, Ramesh claimed.
That a bankrupt economy dependent entirely on the largesse of external donors and a broken country in so many ways was able to play such a role calls into question Modi’s strategy of engagement and narrative management, he said.
“He (Modi) or his team has also never explained why Op Sindoor was suddenly and abruptly halted on May 10th 2025 - the first announcement of which came from the US Secretary of State and for which the US President has claimed credit almost a hundred times since then,” the Congress leader said.
“There is a palpable sigh of relief everywhere. The External Affairs Minister (S Jaishankar) dismissed Pakistan as a dalal. But now the self-styled Vishwaguru stands thoroughly exposed, his self-declared 56-inch chest shrunk and shrivelled,” Ramesh said.
“His cowardice is demonstrated by his silence not only on Israel’s belligerence, but on the completely unacceptable and disgraceful language being used by his good friend in the White House,” the Congress leader added.
US President Donald Trump pulled back on his threats to launch devastating strikes on Iran late Tuesday, as the US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump swerved to de-escalate the war less than two hours before the deadline he set for Tehran to capitulate to a deal or face attacks on its bridges and power plants meant to destroy the Iranian civilisation.
Trump made the dramatic announcement on Truth Social on Tuesday evening (US time) even as Democrats called for his removal over unhinged threats to wipe out the Iranian civilisation.
"Based on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz," the US President said in a social media post.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council said it has accepted the ceasefire and that it would negotiate with the United States in Pakistan beginning Friday. Neither Iran nor the United States said when the ceasefire would begin, and attacks took place in Israel, Iran and across the Gulf region early Wednesday.
Israel backed the US ceasefire with Iran but the deal doesn't cover fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Wednesday.
