Decision on three Deputy CMs in Karnataka will be made by party high command: DK Shivakumar

Bengaluru, Jan 6 (PTI) With Karnataka Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna batting for having three deputy chief ministers in the state, state Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said only the party high command can take a call on it.

Rajanna, who has been insisting on having three deputy chief ministers in Karnataka instead of just one, reiterated on Saturday that his demand is not something which has been fed to him by someone else.

"I said this keeping in mind that making three DCMs will help in the Lok Sabha elections. It's not so that it (creation of three DCMs) will happen soon after my statement. I have only made a request to the party high command and brought it to their notice. They are the ones who take the final decision," Rajanna told reporters.

Pointing out that there are more than one deputy chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan where the BJP came to power in the recent Assembly elections, Rajanna said it will be appropriate if there are three DCMs in Karnataka too.

Reacting to Rajanna's 'suggestion," the lone DCM of the state Shivakumar said, "Only the high command can answer such questions. I cannot answer it. That is not the issue to be discussed. Everyone has to work together to win the parliamentary election. That’s it.” Karnataka Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara too said it was only Rajanna’s personal view and not of the party.

"People express their personal views. Having three DCMs in the state could be good from Rajanna's point of view but we don't know what the High Command thinks," the Home Minister said.

Rajanna got a supporter in Social Welfare Minister H C Mahadevappa, who found nothing wrong in the demand.

"Rajanna is a senior leader. From political view point, he must have found merits in having multiple DCMs. It is left to the party high command whether to take his views into consideration," Mahadevappa said. PTI