CM post is not important: Shivakumar on K’taka leadership change

Bengaluru, Nov 26 (IANS) Karnatak Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said on Wednesday that the Chief Minister’s post is not important for him and bringing the party back to power in the state is what matters.

“The Chief Minister’s post or any high office is not important. Working together with everyone in the party and bringing the party back to power in the state is what matters,” he said.

He said that the party will take the right decision at the appropriate time, adding that whatever discussions happen about power-sharing are confined within four walls.

Shivakumar said that he believes in collective leadership, adding that there is no personality worship in Congress, but only party worship.

He further added that there is no need for BJP or JD(S) leaders to publicly discuss matters of Congress, and they should address their own problems.

He said that there is only one faction – the ‘Congress faction,’ adding that the party has been built through collective leadership.

He said that Congress has stood by him in difficult times, and the opposition leaders need not worry about him.

“I am a staunch Congressman,” said Shivakumar.

He said that he has discussed the strategy with Minister for PWD Satish Jarkiholi, who is a senior leader of the party, to bring the Congress back to power in the 2028 and 2029 elections.

He said that Satish Jarkiholi is a big asset to the party, adding that both of them will continue our work together.

“I alone did not work for this victory. Under the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge, under Rahul Gandhi, under Siddaramaiah, and through the efforts of all MLAs, we brought the party to power. We must preserve this. That is why Satish Jarkiholi and I met and spoke,” he said.

Asked about Opposition leader R. Ashoka’s remark that Shivakumar is not a leader of the Vokkaligas, he said: “When have I ever claimed to be the leader of the Vokkaligas? I am a leader of the Congress Party. I was simply born a Vokkaliga — that much is true. Even if we distance ourselves from caste and religion, they do not leave us.”

–IANS

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