Karnataka Congress Puts Up United Face Amid Murmurs Of Resentment

Congress has managed to put up a united front after declaring veteran leader Siddaramaiah as the next Karnataka Chief Minister and party's State chief D.K. Shivakumar as his deputy, following a week of intense deliberations.

Both leaders, who were in a tight race for the top post, expressed their "commitment to work unitedly for the welfare of the people of the State."

"Our hands will always be united to protect the interests of Kannadigas. The Congress party will work as a family to deliver a pro-people, transparent, corruption-free governance and fulfill all our guarantees," Siddaramaiah tweeted along with a picture of Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge raising his and Shivakumar's hand in a show of unity.

Shivakumar also tweeted the same picture and said, "Karnataka's secure future and our people's welfare is our top priority, and we are united in guaranteeing that."

Dalits want a share in the pie

However, amid rapid political developments, reports emerged that two other leaders M.B. Patil and G. Parameshwara were upset over the denial of Deputy Chief Minister's post. Parameshwara, who is the Dalit face of Congress in Karnataka, is quite upset over it. Dalits have been the traditional vote bank of Congress in the State.

Soon after Congress announced Siddaramaiah as the next CM and Shivakumar as his deputy, Parameshwara cautioned that if a Deputy CM post is not given to a Dalit, "there would be an adverse reaction and it would spell trouble for the party."

To a question on whether injustice has been done to Dalits by not giving a DyCM's post to the community, Parameshwara said, "The Dalit community has huge expectations. Our leadership will have to understand these things while taking a decision."

"If it doesn't happen, naturally there will be reactions to it. There is no need for me to say it. Instead of realising it later, if they rectify it now, it will be better. Or else it may cause trouble for the party. I would like to tell them to understand it," he warned, hinting at what is in store for the party.

Lingayats want reward for switching loyalty

Similarly, Lingayats have shifted from their traditional loyalty towards BJP and voted for Congress for the first time since 1989 when the party had recorded a landslide victory under the community's stalwart Veerendra Patil.

As many as 36 MLAs from the community have won and they too wanted fair representation in the form of a DyCM. Patil, who is the most prominent face of Lingayats in Congress, is also upset over the party high command's decision. Ahead of Cabinet formation, Patil has demanded "due share" for his community.

To a question on the Lingayat community's demand for a Deputy CM's post for him, Patil said that he is confident that Congress will give due share to the community. "Lingayats contesting on BJP tickets have been rejected. So, naturally, when we have come towards Congress, the expectations are high. They want a due share. I am confident that our party will take care of it," Patil was quoted saying by news agency ANI.

"Why not? I would have been much happier if I got 50 seats," said Patil when asked about a possible tussle between Lingayats and Dalits for the second top post in the Karnataka Cabinet.

BJP takes a dig at the new ministry

Taking a dig at Karnataka Congress, BJP's I-T Cell chief Amit Malviya claimed that for the first time, there will be no major representation from the all-powerful Lingayats or the SC community.

"For the first time, Karnataka will have a government that doesn't represent either sub-regional aspirations or for that matter prominent communities. Both CM-designate Siddaramaiah and his deputy Shivakumar come from South Karnataka. For the first time, there will be no representation from the all-powerful Lingayat community or the SCs," Malviya tweeted.

"The Congress has intentionally left out M.B. Patil and Dr G. Parameshwara, both of whom could have well been made DyCMs. Congress is hell-bent on humiliating both these senior leaders and the communities they belong to," he added.

"In the end, corruption wins. As the only DyCM and money bag, DKS, will run the show, control most of the ministerial appointments and reduce Karnataka to an ATM, just to please the Gandhis in Delhi. Siddaramaiah will be reduced to being a placeholder CM, whose last term, to put it mildly, was nothing short of a disaster," he further claimed.

Karnataka is in for a rough time ahead, with unfulfilled aspirations, holding up its development, Malviya concluded.