Amid reports of discontent between Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar and Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah over the Chief Ministerial position, the former Chief Minister dismissed the reports as “false”, saying that the selection of the CM is a “democratic process”, reported news agency ANI.
“What is being quoted in media is totally false. All I said is that the selection of the CM is a democratic process, I am an aspirant for CM and he (DK Shivakumar) is an aspirant, but what they’re saying is false,” said Siddaramaiah.
Earlier, in a tweet, quoting a private news channel’s report, he said that the report alleging that he had commented about Chief Minister candidate in Karnataka, are “far from truth”.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the two factions are working silently to ensure the support of the maximum MLAs to emerge as the CM in the state where assembly polls are due on May 10. There are also speculations that there have been discontent over probable ticket allocation, reported The Indian Express.
A recently leaked audio clip of former Janata Dal (Secular) leader Y S V Datta who recently joined the Congress in January and a speech of former Assembly speaker K R Ramesh Kumar revealed attempts to consolidate Congress MLAs under Siddaramaiah’s leadership. However, Shivakumar was trying to get the support of MLAs in Belagavi and other districts by offering assistance in election expenditure, sources told IE.
An issue that has widened the differences between the two camps includes the selection of candidates in a few constituencies, including Pulakeshinagar in Bengaluru Urban. Siddaramaiah loyalist Akhanda Srinivas Murthy, the incumbent MLA, and former Bengaluru Mayor R Sampath Raj who is backed by Shivakumar are aspiring for the ticket from the constituency.
There are about 100 constituencies where names have not yet been finalised, which is still a matter of dispute.
Again, the induction of leader from different parties into Congress has also not gone down well with party workers. For instance, in Chikkamagaluru, the Opposition party inducted former BJP leader H D Thammaiah to take on BJP general secretary C T Ravi. However, local Congress leaders were against Thammaiah, and district Congress leaders met both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar to discuss the matter on Monday.