NEW DELHI: Amid calls in the Congress for having more Deputy Chief Ministers, Water Resources and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday said that there is ‘no such demand’, adding that some people just wanted to have their names circulated in the news.
“There is no demand. All is this media creation. Some of them just wanted to have their names circulated in the news. That’s it”, Shivakumar said.
On June 25, Minister K N Rajanna had demanded additional Deputy Chief Ministers in the state and asked the party high command to consider the request. “Because of the Parliament elections, it was delayed. I want the party’s high command to consider my request. Many ministers think that many communities who are supporting the Congress party should be given representation of Deputy CMs. But I am not the aspirant”, Rajanna had said.
The demand for more Deputy Chief Ministers was also raised before the Lok Sabha elections by the Congress leaders. DK Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, serves as the only Deputy Chief Minister of the state.
The Karnataka Assembly elections were held last year in which Congress won 135 seats pushing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of power in the only southern state it ruled. The BJP managed to win 66 seats while Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) bagged 19 seats. Independents have won two seats while Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha won one seat each. (ANI)