Bengaluru: Home minister M.B. Patil who belongs to the majority Lingayat community, emerged as the new aspirant for the Chief Minister's gaddi even as Congress legislators continue to send contradicting signals to the coalition partner, JD(S), on the return of Congress Legislature Party(CLP) leader Siddaramaiah as the new Chief Minister.
In as many words, Mr Patil told the media here that he would like to occupy the top post in case Mr Siddaramaiah turns down the offer but maintained that at the current juncture, the Congress would continue to support Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy till completion of his term.
"I agree that our leader, Mr Siddaramaiah, should have become Chief Minister for the second term but central leaders decided otherwise. These central leaders decided to give unconditional support to Mr Kumaraswamy for the full term of five years. Hence, the question of replacing him with Mr Siddaramaiah or any other leader does not arise," he added.
When asked why some Congress leaders were raking up the issue of Mr Siddaramaiah taking over as the Chief Minister again, Mr Patil shot back with a query on what's wrong about expression of such views? "Mr Siddaramaiah is our party leader. So, we want to see him as chief minister again. He has given good governance for five years. Ideally, he should have come back (to occupy the top office) again," he added.
Batting for another term for Mr Siddaramaiah at the helm, Mr Patil listed various pro-people schemes such as farm loan waiver, irrigation schemes, slew of 'Bhagya' schemes such as Anna Bhagya, Krishi Bhagya, Ksheera Bhagya and helped uplift the poor. "He (Mr Siddaramaiah) has done a lot of good work. He deserves one more term. But we have to accept the people's mandate when we come to power on our own, but presently that question does not arise. This coalition government has to complete its five years," he added.
Mr Patil, however, announced that he would be a contender for the top job only if Mr Siddaramaiah declines to occupy the top post when the party comes to power on its own.
"I strongly feel Mr Siddaramaiah deserves a second term. But if he is not in the race for CM, then I will surely be a contender for that post," he added.
In May 2018, when the Congress and JD(S) coalition government took office, Mr Kumaraswamy took over as Chief Minister with the support of Congress.
Later, though the coalition partners fought Lok Sabha elections through a seat-sharing pact, several leaders and workers of both parties were at war with each other either tacitly in some constituencies and openly in some other Lok Sabha constituencies. Many Congress MLAs who are not happy with the present arrangement, have been stating that Mr Siddaramaiah is their leader and they would like to see him as Chief Minister again, party source told Deccan Chronicle.
