Bengaluru: Dropping enough hints that the ruling Congress was not planning a ‘coup d’etat’ after the May 12 Assembly polls to dethrone the current Chief Minister, AICC president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said the party would stand by Mr Siddaramaiah who would be reappointed CM if they won a majority.
His observation came during an interaction with journalists on the last day of the Jana Aashirvaada Yatra in the city. When a reporter asked who would be the CM if the party is voted to power, Mr Gandhi, who was sitting with Mr Siddaramaiah, put the question back to the reporter, asking, “Who do you think?” The reporter replied hesitantly: “It might be Siddaramaiah.” Mr Gandhi then replied, “A large number of people feel the same. I think we will go by public sentiment.”
However, earlier, chatting with a group of reporters when Mr Siddaramaiah was not around, Mr Gandhi replied to the same question and said, “The legislature party will decide.” Reports have been doing the rounds that Mr Siddaramaiah may face a challenge to his claim to the top post from KPCC president Dr G. Parameshwar and Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge-both Dalit leaders.
Mr Gandhi gave a thumbs down to Dalit MLA from Gujarat Jignesh Mewani, who had made a call to disrupt rallies attended by PM, Narendra Modi. He claimed the RSS was running the country from its headquarters in Nagpur.
