Will CM Bommai have four deputies?

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

With just 12 months left for the Assembly polls in Karnataka, the BJP high command is considering appointing four Deputy CMs to keep all major communities in good stead ahead of the polls.

If this happens, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai may have four Deputy CMs and may even overtake his political mentor and predecessor, B.S.Yediyurappa who had three Deputy CMs, Govind Karjol, Lakshman Savadi and Dr.C.N. Ashwath Narayana. During his previous stint as CM too, Yediyurappa had two Deputy CMs, K.S. Eshwarappa and R. Ashok.

If sources are to be believed, the high command may consider MLAs belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes, Vokkaligas and the microscopic minorities for the Dy CM posts keeping in mind the vote bank of these communities. In fact Transport Minister B. Sriramulu has been waiting in the wings for long to don the role of Dy CM, a post promised by Yediyurappa. Sriramulu, a strong ST leader belonging to the Nayaka community, was instrumental in the BJP sweeping the Nayaka dominated constituencies. But his name was not considered for Dy CM post to accommodate Malleswaram MLA Dr C.N. Ashwath Narayana.

The high command is reportedly not averse to creating four Dy CM posts if it helps in the consolidation of votes of the communities concerned. In fact, the post of Deputy CM does not have any constitutional status nor does it carry extra powers and was more used to woo particular sections and communities.

Sources told News Trail that the BJP top brass wants to retain power in Karnataka at any cost for which they are ready to go to any extent in the next one year. Some of the moves they are planning are creation of four Dy CM posts, induction of MLAs having good community background, sops for everyone and release of more funds to BJP represented constituencies. By doing this, the saffron party hopes to secure the votes of socially neglected communities- an experiment done by previous BJP National President Amit Shah in Karnataka.

The Congress too has done its best to keep particular communities happy and appointed senior leader, Dr G. Parameshwar Dy.CM when Siddaramaiah was chief minister. Had they not done so, the Dalit votes would have moved away from the Congress Party.

Similarly, the BJP, with an eye on strong and influential communities, may create four Dy CM posts. To appease the powerful Panchamsali community, the BJP may choose Large & Medium Scale Industries Minister Murgesh Nirani who is also eyeing the CM post. Since Govind Karjol has already functioned as Dy CM, another SC MLA would be picked for the post. In the Vokkaliga community, there could be a lot of aspirants for the post and it remains to be seen who the party chooses.