BENGALURU: The clamour for a change of leadership took shape rather discreetly when some Dalit leaders met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to discuss about events to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar here on Friday night.
One of them, Chalavadi Narayana Swamy, went one step further and posted a message on his Facebook page about a memorandum submitted to Mr Gandhi, seeking a change of leadership in Karnataka.
He made public through the social media copies of his three-page memorandum given to Mr Gandhi on the need to install a Dalit Chief Minister to mark the birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar. He also suggested that either Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, or KPCC chief Dr G Parameshwar should take over the reins from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. During their meeting, these Dalit leaders told Mr Gandhi that voters belonging to Scheduled Castes were upset with the state government. The leader told them that he would discuss the issue on his return to New Delhi.
Sources in the party said during discussions on birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar, Mr Gandhi posed a question to these leaders on how the party could create several replicas of the father of the Constitution.
“This question gave us an opportunity to state that there was a need to have a Dalit CM. On hearing this, Mr Gandhi stated that such issues need to be discussed in Delhi and not here, but we were successful in conveying our message,” the sources added.
Meanwhile, supporting the memorandum on the need for a change of leadership, veteran leader and former Union minister M. V. Rajashekaran told the media that Dr Parameshwar be appointed DCM at least if not as the CM. “Dr Parameshwar would have been the CM had he won the Assembly elections, but he was defeated. None can forget his contribution to the party's victory during Assembly polls held in 2013. At least Mr Siddaramaiah should elevate him as his deputy in the cabinet,” he added.
