BENGALURU: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D K Shivakumar on Saturday said that if one is really interested in the party, they should start worshipping it, instead of any individual. He was reacting to party MLA Zameer Ahmad’s aspirations to become the next Chief Minister of the state.
“If you are really interested in the party, stop worshipping the individual and worship the party. Focus on getting more people to the party. Everyone should organize their communities and bring it to power,” Shivakumar said while reacting to Zameer Ahmad’s remarks that he wanted to be the next CM of the state.
Ahmad is also a follower of Opposition leader Siddaramaiah, who is Shivakumar’s rival.
Talking further about Ahmad’s remarks, he said, “I will speak about those who speak at my level. As of now, the CM seat is not vacant. The work of leveraging the party to power should be done with a quiet mouth. I am saying this to everyone.”
Meanwhile, on the tussle between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, Congress Campaign Committee chairman M B Patil said that he will not speak about their competition. “I have my own unique identity. There is nothing wrong if all those who win 224 constituencies aspire to become the Chief Minister,” he said.
As Karnataka gets ready for the Assembly elections next year, the Congress, which is hoping to return to power, is in a tough spot as the party is facing factionalism with many leaders and both camps are eyeing to project their leaders as chief ministerial candidates for the polls next year.
Though Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar have clarified several times that they are together and there’s no confusion, MLAs like Zameer Ahmed Khan, K Raghavendra Hitnal and many others have backed Siddaramaiah as the party’s CM candidate.
As the followers and supporters of Siddaramaiah are planning to throw a huge party on his 75th birthday, this has resulted in a massive clash within the state Congress as now, Shivakumar’s camp is also demanding a similar kind of bash for their leader too.
However, Shivakumar has denied any claims related to his birthday celebration demands and said that he will be attending Siddaramaiah’s birthday bash.
In the preliminary meeting of the ‘Siddaramaiah-75’ Amrit Mahotsav committee held at the Palace grounds on July 13, there was displeasure that Siddaramaiah’s birthday was being celebrated as ‘God’s worship’.
Talking to ANI, former Karnataka MLA HC Mahadevappa had said, “This programme is not for the glorification of Siddaramaiah. Also, there is no permission in the constitution to worship a person. This programme is being held to showcase Siddaramaiah’s struggle for the development of the nation. His struggles will be remembered in history. We recognize that. We have observed the work done by him as the President of Kannada Kavalu Samithi.”
“Siddaramaiah’s previous government and the current government are being compared. He was good at administrative work. He is an honest politician. Siddaramaiah, who has fulfilled a meaningful public life, needs to be told about it. We are holding this programme for that purpose,” he justified. (ANI)