Ready to become CM if high command asks me: Priyank Kharge

MYSURU: A day after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asserted that he will continue in the post for the full five-year term, and AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala warning Congress leaders not to make controversial remarks, Rural Development Minister Priyank Kharge has said that he is ready to become CM if the party high command decides.

Speaking to media persons here, Priyank Kharge, to a question on sharing of power between Siddaramaiah an D K Shivakumar, said four leaders decided on the issue in Delhi and only they know clearly about it. “The high command will decide who should be CM or who should continue. If they ask me to take up the job, I am ready”, he said.

On other party leaders commenting about Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, he said it is their personal opinion. “From zilla panchayat members to MLAs, all can make their opinions known, there is nothing wrong with it. But what they say is not carved in stone. The high command will decide everything”, he noted.

Mocking the oppisition BJP and the JD(S), Priyank Kharge said, “There is no opposition in the state. The BJP is a leaderless party and the JD(S) is a people-less party. Instead of raising their voices here against the Congress, the BJP leaders should do it before the central leaders. Maybe then, they will get an opposition leader”.

“The BJP leaders in the state have no voice. We don’t have to learn from them. The party even sidelined Yediyurappa, but he is still making statements in the hope that his son may get some position”, the minister remarked.

On the BJP-JD(S) alliance, Priyank Kharge said the members of one family went to Delhi and struck an alliance. “No state BJP leader was present during the discussion. Renukacharya, former CMs and ministers were kept in the dark. The BJP should set its house in order and not worry about the Congress. Our priority is to ensure that our guarantees reach the beneficiaries”, he added.