Siddaramaiah wary of lobbying for CM post in state Congress

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is said to be taken by surprise by the lobbying taking place within the state Congress for the post of the head of government. It is being whispered that there are at least 12 senior leaders within the party who are trying to stake a claim for the CM’s post before the high command. They are also said to be marshaling their own loyalist MLAs. Among the many contenders, one can find Siddaramaiah loyalists. It is to be noted that they voted for Siddaramaiah to be named the Chief Minister in the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) back in May last year after the Assembly polls concluded.

It is said that of the 135 Congress MLAs, at least 100 backed Siddaramaiah to head the government. Siddaramaiah is said to be so taken aback by the developments that he took an entire day off on Monday to keep an eye on the High Court where his Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) plea is being heard. On August 17, Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot granted sanction to prosecute Siddaramaiah in the MUDA case, allowing the framing of charges under section 17 of Prevention of Corruption Act and section 218 of Bharithiya Nagarika Suraksha Samhitha (BNSS). The CM’s wife Parvati had received 14 plots in Mysuru, allegedly of far greater value, in compensation for the land she lost to MUDA on the outskirts of the city.

On August 19, Siddaramaiah had moved court against the sanction, arguing that the applications by the three Right To Information (RTI) activists the sanction was based on was insufficient for permission to frame charges. On Monday, the HC extended a stay on trial court proceedings against the CM till September 12. Long queue behind Siddu The CM aspirants who are lining up behind Siddaramaiah were he to be replaced, include Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, Home Minister G Parameshwara, Minister for Public Works Satish Jarkiholi, Industries Minister MB Patil, among others. In public, all of them hold that Siddaramaiah will continue as CM. Shivakumar’s week-long visit to the US has also raised eyebrows with many whispering that there were political reasons as to why the Vokkaliga strongman had traveled abroad. However, he has himself denied these claims.

Parameshwara on the other hand is a prominent Dalit face of the party who served as Deputy CM back in 2018. A few weeks prior, he stayed back in New Delhi to meet Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. A day prior, Minister for Agriculture Marketing Shivanand Patil and MB Patil had gotten into a war of words over who should be the CM next. On Monday, CM’s financial advisor Basavaraj Rayareddy also threw his hat into the ring as CM candidate while maintaining Siddaramaiah won’t be replaced. “If our party selects community wise and wants to give it to the Lingayat community or want to select among seniors, there is nothing wrong in choosing me. I have said this earlier too, I'm not embarrassed to say it,” Rayareddy said.