Now, Siddaramaiah lists out Vokkaligas in Congress capable of providing leadership to community

Amid a tussle over leadership with Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said that the Congress would be the only party that could provide opportunities to Vokkaligas and Dalits to become Chief Ministers in the future.

Along with Mr. Shivakumar, he listed out T.B. Jayachandra, Kimmane Ratnakar, M. Krishnappa, Krishna Byre Gowda, and K. Venkatesh as those in the Congress capable of providing leadership to the community, even as he listed out Vokkaliga leaders, who distanced themselves from former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s leadership in the Janata Parivar.

“Those who are capable of providing leadership to the Vokkaliga community are in the Congress and if anyone from the community has to become a Vokkaliga Chief Minister beyond Mr. Gowda’s family it will be from the Congress,” the Chief Minister said in a statement.

The Chief Minister’s statement came in response to criticism from JD(S) and BJP leaders over his social media posts on Saturday. Union Heavy Industries and STeel Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had accused Mr. Siddaramaiah of dragging castes to save his chair in response to the Chief Minister’s posts in which he claimed that he was being targeted owing to his caste and social background. In Saturday’s posts, the Chief Minister not only said that he will carry forward the fight against attempts to finish him, but also said he was not a coward to run away from the battlefield.  

“It is the Congress that identified and nurtured Vokkaliga leadership from Kengal Hanumanthaiah to S.M. Krishna. The Congress is nurturing Vokkaliga leaders, who were cheated by Mr. Gowda,” he said in a statement.

Mr. Siddaramaiah accused Mr. Gowda and Mr. Kumaraswamy of using Vokkaligas to further their family interests and used Vokkaligas as a vote bank. “There is a long list of Vokkaliga leaders in the Congress. How many Vokkaliga leaders are there in the JD(S)?”

Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the Congress had Dalit leaders who are capable of becoming Chief Minister based on merit. “If one day, a Dalit leader becomes the Chief Minister, it would be only from the Congress”.