In a bid to extricate the state from the present political impasse, JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda has offered the post of CM to senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge. On the other hand, Congress wants to make another senior leader Ramalinga Reddy the second deputy chief minister
Bengaluru: Desperate situations call for desperate measures. It surely can’t get a better scenario than the present Karnataka political impasse to express itself more articulately.
None other than former prime minister HD Deve Gowda has advocated the name of former MP and senior leader of the Congress Mallikarjun Kharge as the next chief minister of Karnataka.
A local TV channel reported on this issue.
In a meeting with Water Resources minister and Congress trouble-shooter DK Shivakumar, it is learnt that the JD(S) patriarch made this offer.
Further, it was claimed that he even made a call to Mallikarjun Kharge to accept his offer. If this offer fructifies, Deve Gowda hopes to soothe the fraying tempers in the coalition. None in the Congress ranks will oppose it.
However, Deve Gowda himself clarified that no such discussion was held with DK Shivakumar.
On the other hand, sources say that the Congress is hell-bent on winning over senior Congress leader Ramalinga Reddy. Sources say that the Congress think-tank is mulling the option of elevating Ramalinga Reddy as the deputy chief minister of the state.
But in order to accommodate him, if G Parameshwara, the incumbent deputy CM is asked to quit, it might further deepen the crisis. So, with a view to keep him in a good stead, the Congress is of the opinion that it will create another deputy CM post to bring Ramalinga Reddy onboard.
Sources add that state Congress in-charge KC Venugopal has already begun talks with Reddy, but Reddy’s response is not yet known.
Earlier, Ramalinga Reddy had pointed fingers at Parameshwara for not consulting him or the other Bengaluru MLAs in relation to the development of the garden city. He had openly told Venugopal about his grouse.
Meanwhile, former prime minister Deve Gowda has squarely blamed former CM Siddaramaiah for the political mess. This, he openly expressed to DK Shivakumar.
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