Mahadevappa says no to 'power sharing'

NT Correspondent

Mysuru: Social Welfare Minister HC Mahadevappa on Sunday continued to stir the pot on the topic of power sharing, claiming that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would continue in his post for five years.

The minister, who is a Siddaramaiah loyalist, took a sly dig at Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, suggesting that the CM was a much loftier leader.

“Suppose an elephant is marching and it might sway a little bit as a fox nearby hopes the beast will collapse. However, the elephant won’t fall nor will the fox get hold of it,” Mahadevappa said.

Notably, Shivakumar on Saturday warned Congress MLAs he’d issue notices to them if they discuss the party’s “internal matters” of the party and the government such as power sharing.

Mahadevappa appears to be thumbing his nose at Shivakumar with the recent statement. “Is there a chief minister or not? Is the post lying vacant? When the chief minister is there, this question is irrelevant. He is the chief minister. He is occupying the post,” he said.

“As I have understood politics, the chief minister’s post is not vacant. Siddaramaiah is functioning as chief minister,” he added.

Mahadevappa was addressing speculation about the State Home Minister G Parameshwara inviting him, Siddaramaiah and Jarkiholi to dinner on Friday. Conspicuous by absence was Shivakumar, who hadn’t been invited. Interestingly, Parameshwara was in Shivakumar’s camp.

Joking about the situation, Mahadevappa told mediapersons that they had discussed “mudde” (dough) and not “hudde” (position), adding that apart from the contents of the dinner, nothing was discussed, not even politics.

Back in July, the minister had made a similar remark about Siddarmaiah continuing as chief minister and elicited the censure of Shivakumar’s brother and Bengaluru Rural MP DK Suresh