Karnataka: DK Shivakumar says 'worship party' as Cong MLA backs Siddaramaiah as next CM

On July 23, DK Shivakumar, the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee has criticised MLA Zameer Ahmad for declaring that people of the state want Siddaramaiah to become the future Chief Minister of Karnataka and urged him to worship the party rather than any one person.

Ahmad is a follower of Karnataka Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah. While reacting to Zameer Ahmad's remarks on Siddaramaiah being the next CM, Shivakumar said, "If you are really interested in the party, stop worshiping the individual and worship the party. Focus on getting more people to the party. Everyone should organize their communities and bring it to power." 

DK Shivakumar, while talking further about Ahmad's statement and highlighting how the party should be brought to power, added, "I will speak about those who speak at my level. As of now, the CM seat is not vacant. The work of leveraging the party to power should be done with a quiet mouth. I am saying this to everyone."

This comes amid ongoing disputes within the Congress' Karnataka unit over who should serve as Chief Minister if the party wins the state's upcoming Assembly elections, as the leaders of the Party continue to squabble over who should be the next CM candidate between former CM Siddaramaiah and party's state president DK Shivakumar.

Siddaramaiah vs DK Shivakumar

As Karnataka prepares for the Assembly elections next year, Congress, which is hoping to regain power, is in a difficult position because the party is dealing with factionalism as a large number of leaders from both camps want to project their leaders as candidates for Chief Ministerial positions in the elections.

Amid Siddaramaiah camp's plan to hold a birthday bash on the former Karnataka Chief Minister's 75th birthday, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President DK Shivakumar's followers are also demanding to hold a similar bash.

However, the latter refuted such demands from his followers and said that he will be attending Siddaramaiah's birthday celebration. It was also clarified by the former member of legislative assembly HC Mahadevappa that Siddaramaiah’s birthday will not be celebrated under the party's logo.

(With inputs from ANI)