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Bommai takes a dig at Karnataka Congress chief Shivakumar amid infighting
Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday took a dig at state Congress president DK Shivakumar over the latter’s fight for dominance within his own party over opposition leader Siddaramaiah.
Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday took a dig at state Congress president DK Shivakumar over the latter’s fight for dominance within his own party over opposition leader Siddaramaiah.
Bommai said Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar are “poles apart” and that the Congress should look at their own respective places before commenting on the BJP or nursing ambitions to become the next chief minister.
“Shivakumar has been nursing the dream of becoming the chief minister. The Congress leaders are not allowing him to function even as the KPCC president. We have been watching the happenings in the Congress,” Bommai said.
The statements come a day after Shivakumar openly asked for the backing of the dominant Vokkaliga community, believed to be the second largest in the state and predominant in the Old Mysuru region, for the post of chief minister.
The statements come at a time when the battle for dominance between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar has intensified in recent weeks and in the run-up to the 2023 assembly elections.
“What am I a monk? I have come in khadi clothes, I have not come in ‘kavi’ clothes. But finally, the party will decide who should be the chief minister. More importantly than me becoming the chief minister, the Congress government should come to power. That’s what matters to me,” Shivakumar said in an interaction with the media in Mysuru on Tuesday.
The Congress has not been able to take full advantage of the BJP’s problems under the Bommai government as it continues to fight among themselves to assert their dominance ahead of the polls next year.
It is no secret that Shivakumar wants to become the chief minister if the Congress comes to power on its own next year.
The Congress is hopeful that it can stop the BJP’s juggernaut of election victories and fuel the revival of the party in the state and at the Centre as Karnataka is one of the few states where it continues to have a significantly large presence.
The Bommai government is also unlikely to conduct the Bengaluru city corporation elections and the polls to Zilla and taluka panchayat, according to multiple legislators, some from within the BJP.
“Many legislators are against conducting the elections and as time draws closer to assembly polls, MLAs from all parties will also start to oppose it,” said one three-time legislator from the BJP, requesting anonymity.
Bommai and the BJP are hesitant to conduct the polls in Bengaluru as well as ZP/TP this close to assembly elections as any upset is likely to weigh in on next year’s results, people aware of the developments said.
“The state government would submit the report to the Supreme Court on July 22 on ward delimitation and OBC reservation matrix immediately on receiving the report from the Commission to decide OBC reservation for holding the elections for the Panchayat bodies and BBMP, “ Bommai said on Wednesday in Mysuru.
He added that the election process would be initiated in accordance with the directions of the Supreme Court.
