By Mukesh 
“The demand for a Dalit Chief Minister by Congress workers and leaders is natural. Such a demand does not mean that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should be unseated. It is request made keeping in mind the future. However, it is for the party high command to take a decision on such issues,” Public Works Minister and KPCC working president Satish Jarkiholi said in Hukkeri on Wednesday.
“Several leaders keep speaking about the need for a Dalit Chief Minister for the State. There is no meaning in such demands. It creates confusion among the people and party workers. We should all realise that such demands are political and that the power to decide on such issues lies with the party high command,” he said.
“All of us should realise that,” the Congress leader said, in response to a query.
“There is nothing wrong in first-time MLAs seeking to be made Ministers. They can be accommodated based on their eligibility. No one has said that they will not be made Ministers,” he said.
“Members of youth organisations are angry that there are several long-pending vacancies in various government departments. The State government is ready to fill all pending vacancies in phases. Long-pending vacancies is an administrative issue and not a political one. The Chief Minister has already held a meeting to find solutions to this problem,” he said.
He said that he has directed Belagavi district officers to prevent fraudulent activities like encroachment and registration of property using fake Aadhaar cards and other fake documents.
“The police have already arrested some, including a sub-registrar in Hukkeri taluk. This operation will continue,” the district in-charge Minister said.
He said that he has no differences with Congress leader and former Minister A.B. Patil. “We may have campaigned for different panels in local cooperative society elections. But we will fight the local body polls and Assembly elections together. We are both Congress workers and that is what is important,” he said.