Siddaramaiah’s remark on Rahul as PM face likely to trigger infighting in K’taka Cong

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s statement that Rahul Gandhi is leading the country and will become the Prime Minister after the Lok Sabha elections next year is likely to trigger internal fight in state Congress, sources said on Thursday.

Siddaramaiah made the statement on Thursday while addressing the 139th Foundation Day of the party at the Bharat Jodo auditorium in Bengaluru.

Sources said the remarks might trigger a rift between AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge and Siddaramaiah.

It may be noted that Kharge’s name was proposed as the PM face by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during the INDIA bloc meeting held in the national capital recently.

Siddaramaiah had distanced himself from giving his opinion on the proposal to make Kharge the PM face.

“Mamta Banerjee had suggested his (Kharge's) name... It is to be seen whom the INDIA bloc makes its PM face,” Siddaramaiah had stated.

Commenting on the Congress President's name being proposed as the PM face, Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge, the son of Mallikarjun Kharge, questioned why discussions always revolve around community and whether efficiency in Dalits is not considered.

He made this statement in response to queries as to if the name of a senior Dalit leader like Kharge had been put up to give an advantage to the INDIA bloc in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Priyank Kharge maintained that every time there are discussions about a Chief Ministerial or Prime Ministerial candidate, they tend to focus on communities.

“Won’t you see efficiency in these communities that you are mentioning? Will they only get elected in the name of the communities they belong to,” he asked.

Sources said that questions are already being raised over Siddaramaiah not supporting the proposal of Kharge's candidature for the PM post whole-heartedly.