Amidst the game of one-upmanship between Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar, the latter’s brother and MP D.K. Suresh on Wednesday said anyone can become the Chief Minister of the State and asserted the party would go to polls under collective leadership.
Speaking to reporters here, Mr. Suresh said anyone can become the Chief Minister and leaders such as Mr. Shivakumar, G. Parameshwara, M. Mallikarjun Kharge, Ramalinga Reddy, R.V. Deshpande had all been elected as MLAs several times and nursing ambition to become Chief Minister.
Mr. Siddaramaiah had become the Chief Minister once and now his loyalists want him to be given another chance, Mr. Suresh said. The former Chief Minister’s loyalists have planned a birthday event for him on August 3.
Several in the ruling BJP too have been aspiring to become the Chief Minister after the 2023 polls, he said.
Ex-MLAs join Congress
Meanwhile, former MLAs M.C. Sudhakar of Chintamani and Kothur G. Manjunanth of Mulbagal on Wednesday joined the Congress in the presence of former party president and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi and senior leaders of the State.
A delegation of Congress leaders from Kolar district met Mr. Gandhi and discussed issues related to the party during discussions at the national capital.
Mr. Siddaramaiah, Mr. Shivakumar, AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala, former Speaker and MLA Ramesh Kumar were among the others present. K. Srinivas Gowda, who was expelled from the JD(S), was also present with Congress leaders.
Mr. Srinivas Gowda of Kolar and S.R. Srinivas of Gubbi were expelled from the primary membership of the JD(S) for cross-voting in the recent Rajya Sabha elections.
