Bengaluru: With demand for a Dalit Chief Minister in 2018 growing in the Congress, PWD Minister Dr H.C. Mahadevappa hopes to be in the race for the gaddi, according to sources. He saw veteran leader, V. Srinivasprasad , also a Dalit, as a threat, and reportedly wanted him out.
This explains why Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is considered close to Dr Mahadevappa, dropped Srinivasprasad from the state Cabinet last year. A furious Srinivasprasad, who is also a former Union minister, hit back by resigning from his Assembly seat and the Congress party. He also made it an issue concerning Dalit pride projecting his dropping from the Cabinet as an insult to a senor Dalit leader which may have found support across large sections of the Dalit community.
It remains to be seen if Dr Mahadevprasad will still be in contention for the coveted CM post if he is unable to stop Srinivasprasad from winning the Nanjangud seat in the coming bypolls. In Nanjangud, Mr Prasad who could win only by a slender margin over Kalale Keshavamurthy in the 2013 Assembly polls when the latter contested on a JD(S) ticket, enjoys a bigger advantage this time.
The dominant Lingayat community which is present in large numbers in the constituency, could back him, thanks to the fact that BJP state president B.S. Yeddyurappa is the tallest Lingayat leader in the state. In fact the Dalit-Lingayat combination would make it difficult to stop a Srinivasprasad victory, added sources.
