Why Should I Not Become CM, Asks Home Minister Parameshwara, Saying Dalits Should Assert Themselves

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Tuesday said several Dalit leaders, now and in the past, including him, were deprived of opportunities despite having all the ability to become the chief minister, and called on the community to stay united. Parameshwara had openly expressed his chief ministerial ambitions in the past, and on Congress choosing Siddaramaiah for the coveted post after the poll results last month, he had cautioned the party’s central leadership that if a deputy chief minister post is not given to a Dalit, there would be adverse reactions and it would spell trouble for the party. The 2018 Assembly poll defeat taught Congress a lesson, as to what would be the result of neglecting the communities that stood by it, he said, adding that’s the reason in 2023 polls some leaders got together and came up with a strategy to get back the support of communities that were neglected by the party. Recalling that the party leadership gave him the responsibility of celebrating Ambedkar Jayanti, while K H Muniyappa was given the responsibility of observing Babu Jagjivan Ram’s birthday celebrations, ahead of the Assembly polls, Parameshwara said both of them discussed and decided not to accept it, as it was a continuation of the “divide and rule” against Dalit community.