Bengaluru: Energy Minister and Vokkaliga strongman, D.K. Shivakumar has ruled himself out of the race for KPCC president after the incumbent, Dr G.Parameshwar, who is now Home Minister, exits the post. He also ruled out a change of leadership in Karnataka till the next Assembly elections, due in 2018. Interacting with reporters at the KPCC office, Mr Shivakumar scotched reports of differences between Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah and KPCC president, Dr G. Parameshwar. “We are all united, so there is no question of a change at the top,” he said.
Replying to a question, Mr Shivakumar said he was happy with the assignment he had now. “I keep visiting New Delhi regularly. I do not go there to put pressure on the party high command. Since they have given me the responsibility of a few states, I visit Delhi,” Mr Shivakumar explained. Replying to the allegations on costly power purchase from the Centre, he said: “We are not buying power at a premium price. We entered into an agreement with Damodar Valley project to get power at Rs 4 per unit. If we were to rely on the Centre, we would have landed in a situation where we would have to buy power at Rs 5.” The minister also took a dig at fellow Vokkaliga leader and JD(S) president H.D. Kumaraswamy saying he should not retire from politics. “We don’t want our rivals to run away from the battlefield. We need secular parties.”
