Siddaramaiah-DK Shivakumar tension up as Karnataka minister MB Patil says no sharing of CM seat

BENGALURU: Barely hours after senior minister MB Patil claimed Siddaramaiah will continue as chief minister for a full five-year term, deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar and his MP brother DK Suresh reacted with derision and anger.
While Shivakumar, who was in a tussle with Siddaramaiah for the CM post but eventually agreed to be his deputy, said he does not want to react and that AICC functionaries will take a decision on such issues, Suresh was more candid.
“I can give a sharp response to MB Patil, but I choose not to do so in the interests of the party,” Suresh said. “Siddaramaiah is the chief minister now. For any such issue, you can contact Randeep Singh Surjewala [AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka],” he said.
Shivakumar added: “Let people say whatever they want. There is an AICC general secretary and AICC president who will take a call.”
Patil is a known Siddaramaiah supporter and he appeared to be backed by Dinesh Gundu Rao, another Siddaramaiah loyalist. “As per my information, AICC leaders have said Siddaramaiah will be the CM and DK Shivakumar will be his deputy, and he will also stay on as KPCC president till the Lok Sabha elections. Apart from that, there has been no other discussion. Was there a discussion about Siddaramaiah’s replacement in 2013?” said Rao, a former state Congress president.
Meanwhile, although Surjewala issued a diktat to partymen not to speak on the CMand DCM posts in public, Patil refused to back down. He insisted that his comments were only a reiteration of what AICC general secretary KC Venugopal had told reporters on May 18 when the CM and DCM names were declared.
Taking a dig at Congress, the Karnataka unit of BJP tweeted a video of Patil’s remarks with the comments: “DK Shivakumar is not going to become CM, and @ siddaramaiah is not going to let him become. @MBPatil has just sent a direct warning to @DKShivakumar with this statement!”