Karnataka Home Minister Parameshwara rejects any power-sharing pact
Bengaluru (PTI): 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.
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BJP's main agenda is to keep minorities in fear, alleges Stalin
Chennai (PTI): DMK President M K Stalin has alleged that the BJP's main agenda is to keep the minorities in fear, and everyone is aware of what is happening in the states governed by the saffron party.
Stalin further alleged that Muslims continued to be subjected to attacks.
"Now, a situation has arisen where even Christmas could not be celebrated peacefully. Christians are being targeted. The entire country is a witness to what is happening in Manipur. The BJP's plan of action is that a state of insecurity for minorities should spread like a wildfire across the country," he told PTI in an interview.
That was why it first enacted the CAA, and the next was an amendment to the Waqf law, and now it is "desperate" to amend the FCRA, he alleged, and lashed out at AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami.
"Palaniswami, who supports all these three amendments and has formed an alliance with the BJP, does not have any concern for the welfare of minorities. However, the DMK is always firm in its commitment to ensure that India must always be a secular state; that people belonging to all religions must be equally respected and that the Constitutional safeguards conferred on minorities must be upheld. If any of these is threatened, the DMK will be the first party to raise its voice against it," he said.
Denying that the BJP made the minorities feel insecure, BJP state vice president M Chakravarthy said the chief minister was making the allegation due to the "fear that the Christian and Dalit votes would go to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam led by actor-politician Vijay."
He was depicting the BJP as a bogeyman in an attempt to create unnecessary apprehension among the minorities, the BJP leader told PTI.
On FCRA, Chakravarthy asked, "What's wrong with ensuring accountability in the use of funds?"
