Jarkiholi backs D.K. Shivakumar as Karnataka CM after 2028 polls; says he is young and will wait his turn

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Minister for Public Works Satish Jarkiholi in Mysuru on Friday. | Photo Credit: M.A. Sriram

Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi has backed Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s bid to continue in the post if the Congress returns to power in Karnataka after the 2028 Assembly elections.

Mr. Jarkiholi, who had earlier said he would like to become Chief Minister in 2028 if given an opportunity, told reporters in Mysuru on Friday that he had no objection to Mr. Shivakumar continuing as Chief Minister if the Congress retained power. His remarks assume significance in the backdrop of his growing proximity to Mr. Shivakumar following the recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) searches on his premises.

“He is making efforts to bring the Congress back to power. If his efforts bear fruit, why should he not become the Chief Minister?” Mr. Jarkiholi said.

Asked about his own ambition to occupy the post, Mr. Jarkiholi said age was on his side and he could wait for his turn. There was no urgency, he said, adding that he had merely expressed his desire to become Chief Minister if circumstances permitted.

Mr. Jarkiholi, however, rejected suggestions that his relationship with former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had soured. “We are on good terms,” he said.

Mr. Jarkiholi, who was earlier considered a close aide of Mr. Siddaramaiah, said the two had met only when necessary even in the past. “It is the same even now,” he said.

Asked whether Mr. Siddaramaiah had met him following the ED searches, Mr. Jarkiholi said Yathindra Siddaramaiah, son of the former Chief Minister and a Congress leader, had visited him.

“It is enough if one member of a family comes. One should not expect everyone in the family to come,” he said.

Mr. Jarkiholi said Mr. Siddaramaiah continued to be the “captain” of their political team and that his close aides had not deserted him.

Responding to a question about his absence from a recent convention in Bengaluru, Mr. Jarkiholi said it was not an AHINDA convention but a convention of backward communities. He rejected suggestions of differences within AHINDA.

Responding to questions about the ED searches, Mr. Jarkiholi said he would appear before the agency and answer its queries once he received a notice.

On questions relating to alleged commissions from Central government projects and investments abroad, he said he would provide explanations to the ED and would not discuss the matter with the media.

Mr. Jarkiholi alleged that the ED searches were politically motivated, claiming that no such searches had been conducted against BJP leaders or leaders of its alliance partners anywhere in the country over the past 14 years.

He denied that the searches had affected him psychologically and said he would face the issue politically.

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