DK Shivakumar warns of action against party leaders if they speak out on changing CM and creating more deputy CM posts

Deputy Prime Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday threatened that notices and disciplinary action would be issued against any party leaders who publicly comment on a change of prime minister or the creation of additional posts for the deputy prime minister.

Speaking to reporters at his residence, Mr Shivakumar, who is also the chairman of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), said, “Anyone who makes any public statements on the change of Chief Minister or Deputy Chief Minister will face disciplinary action from the AICC and KPCC. Discipline is of utmost importance for the party. We have worked hard to bring the party to power, no one should open their mouth on this issue.”

“Work for the party”

Soon after his return from Delhi, Mr Shivakumar said, “AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and I met in Delhi and decided that everyone must work for the party. Ministers, MPs and swamijis should not talk about party matters.”

This statement comes in the backdrop of the fact that the seer of the Vishwa Vokkaligara Mahasamsthana Mutt, Chandrashekhara Swami, had recently publicly requested Mr Siddaramaiah to relinquish his post to Mr Shivakumar during the Kempe Gowda Jayanti celebrations. Earlier, some ministers, notably KN Rajanna, had demanded creation of additional posts for deputy chief ministers to represent other communities to undermine Mr Shivakumar, who is currently the only one in the post and belongs to the Vokkaliga community.

When asked on Saturday whether there had been any discussions with the high command on the change of chief minister or creation of more posts of deputy chief minister, Mr Shivakumar said, “There have been no discussions with the high command on this matter. The high command will evaluate my performance and take a decision accordingly. Let us put an end to these speculations.”

Asked if some party members were seeking creation of more posts, he said, “I don’t know anything about it. It would be better if everyone kept quiet.” On swamijis getting involved in politics, Mr. Shivakumar said, “Swamijis usually don’t get involved, this is the first time he has spoken. My sincere request to all swamijis is to leave politics to the politicians.”

When asked about an alleged discussion between the Prime Minister and the Home Minister that Swamiji’s statement was “planned”, the KPCC chief said he was not aware of any such conversation.

‘I will answer’

Meanwhile, when asked about Mr Shivakumar’s warning, an unrepentant Mr Rajanna said, “Let me have a notice and I will react… If anything, everyone should be quiet, not just me. I alone cannot be expected to keep quiet.” He further asked how anyone could be expected to keep quiet when the issue of changing the Chief Minister was being discussed.

Senior politician and MLC BK Hariprasad told reporters that the demand for more deputy chief ministers was mainly due to the Congress’s below-expected performance in the assembly elections. “Both Mr Siddaramaiah and Mr Shivakumar failed to win a majority of seats in the Lok Sabha in the state,” the MLC argued.

Meeting with FM

Commenting on the meetings in Delhi, Mr Shivakumar said, “We had a meeting with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and all the MPs from Karnataka. In the two-hour meeting, we discussed the progress of the state, upcoming projects in the state and equity in devolution of taxes to the state.”

The delegation also met with Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and discussed bottlenecks in various national highway projects in the state.