A day after the Assembly elections in Karnataka, incumbent Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said that he would not object if the party high command chooses a Dalit leader for the state’s top post, reported The News Minute. He added that MLAs will have to give their opinion on this matter and “forcefully making someone a [chief minister] is difficult”.
“If high command says they will make a Dalit the CM [chief minister], I will tell them go ahead,” Siddaramaiah told reporters in Chamundeswari, one of the constituencies from where he contested. “I am not against anybody. But you see, MLAs also have to give an opinion,” His comments are being sees in reference to senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also a CM aspirant and a prominent Dalit leader, reported The News Minute.
Siddaramaiah said he confident that the Congress would get an absolute majority, and ruled out any tie-up with the Janata Dal (Secular), led by former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. He, however, said that this would be his last election, according to PTI. But, “till my last breath I’ll fight for social justice”, he said, according to The Times of India.
Earlier in the day, he dismissed the exit polls that predicted a hung House with the Bharatiya Janata Party making inroads into the state Assembly. He tweeted, “Exit poll opinions are entertainment for the next two days.”
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