One Deputy CM or 4? Minister triggers debate

Karnataka Cooperation Minister KN Rajanna has virtually burst a bombshell while floating the idea of having three more Deputy CMs instead of only one (DK Shivakumar) ahead of the Lok Sabha polls scheduled to happen in April/ May, 2024.

Rajanna’s logic: Three more Deputy CMs from the SC/ST community, Veerashaiva Lingayats and minority community would help in sending out a message that the Congress government in the state is truly representative of different sections besides helping retain their vote banks.

There is a precedent in Karnataka of three Deputy CMs - when BS Yediyurappa became CM in 2019, he had three Deputies - CN Ashwath Narayan from the Vokkaliga community, Govind Karjol, a Dalit and Lakshman Savadi (a Lingayat).

Whether it helped the then ruling party retain the support of these communities is debatable as the saffronists lost heavily in the subsequent Assembly polls in 2023.

The post of Deputy CM has no constitutional sanctity and the concerned leader holds a post equivalent to that of a Cabinet minister though he is perceived a notch higher than other ministers.

Reports had done the rounds at the time the tussle between DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah for the CM post had reached a flashpoint in May that a compromise was struck only after the Congress top brass assured DKS that he would be the only Deputy CM.

There are some in political circles who aver that the Deputy CM issue has been raised by Rajanna - considered close to the Siddaramaiah camp - primarily to keep Shivakumar in check.

Interestingly, Rajanna’s remark comes barely days after a senior Congress leader, BK Hariprasad, let loose a tirade against Siddaramaiah while richly complimenting former Deputy CM Dr G Parameshwara and how he deserved to be CM.

Hariprasad, a former Rajya Sabha member, has been issued a show-cause notice for his critical comments and the episode went to show that despite the Congress securing an overwhelming majority in the Assembly, the different factions in the party are yet to make peace with each other.

Karnataka is a state where caste-based politics rules the roost. And obviously the Lingayats, the dominant community in the state, have always been in the forefront in demanding a bigger chunk of the pie, often settling for nothing less than the CM post.

The BJP had deftly handled this issue keeping the Lingayats in good stead by propelling BS Yediyurappa to the CM post more than once besides Jagadish Shettar and Basavaraj Bommai.

Siddaramaiah who belongs to the Kuruba community, has enough Lingayats in his cabinet no doubt including MB Patil, the industries minister but the top posts are held by non-Lingayats.

So is the ‘advice’ from a senior minister like Rajanna an indication that the Lingayats are quietly pressing for more influence commensurate with their numbers in the state?

There is another question which needs to be tackled: Does Karnataka really need three more deputy CMs just to placate various communities? Will it help in better administrative efficiency and the execution of government programmes without hiccups?

Or is it a recipe for disaster - meaning more face-offs among seniors in the cabinet? Will the authority of the CM get undermined because of the presence of four Deputy CMs in his ministry?

These and the murmurs of dissent among Congress legislators over the denial of funds are questions which the party top brass will have to deal with in all seriousness so that they do not go out of hand.

The Congress has scored handsomely in winning mass support by implementing the majority of the poll guarantee schemes it had announced prior to the May elections.

Rumblings of this kind particularly at a time when the party is looking to win a good number of seats in the Lok Sabha polls, are sure to dent its prospects.