K'taka Minister Rajanna pitches for three more Deputy Chief Ministers ahead of LS polls
Tumakuru (K'taka): (PTI) Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna on Saturday floated the idea of having three more Deputy Chief Ministers in Karnataka, and said he will discuss it with the Congress high command, keeping in mind the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
He pitched for deputy chief minister posts to be given to leaders from Veerashaiva-Lingayat, SC/ST and minority communities.
Currently, D K Shivakumar from the Vokkaliga community is the Deputy Chief Minister in the Siddaramaiah-led cabinet. He is also the state Congress President.
"Lok Sabha elections are at our doorstep, we are seeing that all the parties are making preparations for the polls. It is our intention that the Congress should win the maximum number of seats in Karnataka, we are also confident that we will win," Rajanna told reporters here.
"One post (DCM) should be given to a leader from the SC/ST community, second for a minority community leader and third for a Veerashaiva community leader as there is a feeling the community has gone away from the Congress and it has been proved from this Assembly poll results that the Veershaiva community votes has mostly come back to the party," he added.
Rajanna, pitching for three DCMs is notwithstanding the Congress' decision 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 this year.
It was said that him (Shivakumar) being the only DCM was one among the commitments which the Congress leadership made to Shivakumar, while convincing him to give up his claim for the CM post and to take up the role of deputy chief minister.
Noting that it is his personal opinion (appointing three more Deputy CMs) to get more support from SC/STs, minorities and the Veerashaiva community, the Minister said he felt it would be right to share it with the party high command.
"I have decided to write a letter to Congress high command in this regard and will do so in a couple of days. As the Congress Working Committee meeting is on in Hyderabad, they will all be busy, and I too will be busy with general body meetings of Cooperatives in September, so I will be meeting all our high command leaders in the first week of next month and will try to convince them on this," he added.
Asked who should be given the deputy CM posts, Rajanna, from the ST community, said according to him, it was for the high command to decide.
"I don't want (DCM post), but the high command should give it to leaders from these communities. The high command decision is our decision," he said.
Noting that several people in the party shared a similar opinion (about having more DCMs), Rajanna said they have told him personally his proposal was good for the party's interests.
Asked whether Shivakumar and his brother- D K Suresh, an MP, were upset with him for pitching for more DCMs, he said, "why will they be upset, I haven't spoken against them. Shivakumar is a DCM and party state unit President. He is ably organising the party as he is a good organisation man. I don't think there is a need for him to get upset."
Shivakumar had chosen not to respond to Rajanna's statement to a news channel on Friday calling for three deputy CMs, while Suresh told reporters, "You should ask Rajanna about it...he is the one running the government."
A section within the Congress is said to be of the opinion that Rajanna's statement 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.
However, there have been other different voices within the party regarding the chief minister and deputy CM posts.
Recently, senior Congress leader and MLC B K Hariprasad had said either G Parameshwara (now Home Minister), a Dalit leader and the longest serving KPCC president should have been made the CM or at least should have been considered for the DCM post, which he had occupied in the past. He had also said Satish Jarkiholi (Public Works Minister) from the ST community should have been made the DCM.
Soon after Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were announced as the CM and DCM respectively in May, Parameshwara had warned the party of "trouble" if a Dalit is not made the DCM.
Reacting to Rajanna's statement, IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge said, "anyone can place their opinion before the Congress central leadership...but I don't feel there is any such proposal (on more DCMs) before the high command."
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11 more bodies retrieved from Arunachal accident site
Itanagar (PTI): Eleven more bodies were retrieved on Saturday from the deep gorge in Arunachal Pradesh's Anjaw district, where a mini-truck on which 22 labourers from Assam were travelling fell, an official said.
With this, 17 bodies have been recovered from the accident site, Anjaw's deputy commissioner Milo Kojin said.
He said three more bodies will be brought out on Sunday.
The operation, being conducted by a joint team of the NDRF and Army, resumed at 6 am.
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"The retrieval process was extremely difficult because of the treacherous terrain, and the gorge is very deep," Kojin said.
The operation was suspended around 4 pm due to low visibility and will be resumed on Sunday morning, he said.
"One person is still missing, and a search operation will be carried out tomorrow," he added.
The accident happened on the evening of December 8, around 40 km from Hayuliang towards Chaglagam in the district. On the evening of December 10, one survivor managed to climb out of the gorge and reach a nearby Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) labour camp, following which the authorities were alerted.
Six bodies were recovered from the gorge on Friday and handed over to their families on Saturday.
