I'm One Of 10 Chief Ministerial Aspirants In Congress: Karnataka Leader

Throwing his hat into the ring, senior Congress leader G Parameshwara acknowledged on Thursday that he is among the Chief Ministerial aspirants in the event of the party coming to power after the Assembly elections in Karnataka, slated in April-May. The five-time MLA maintained that the party high command will decide on the next Chief Minister after the party wins the election, and said, given an opportunity he is ready.

Already, state Congress President DK Shivakumar and legislature party leader Siddaramaiah are nursing Chief Ministerial ambitions in the event of Congress coming to power and are quite vocal on their aspirations, resulting in political one upmanship between the two in the party.

"We don't appoint Chief Minister on the basis of one's caste; whoever is capable in the given situation, whoever has the capability to fulfill the party's mission and its principles, based on that, the Chief Minister will be chosen, not on the basis of whether someone is a Dalit or from other caste," Mr Parameshwara said responding to a question on possibility of a Dalit Chief Minister if Congress comes to power.

Asked about his Chief Ministerial aspiration, he said, "why am I doing politics? To come to power...everyone has aspirations, about 10 people have aspirations in our party, I'm also one among them."

Mr Parameshwara, a Dalit, was Deputy Chief Minister during the Congress-JD(S) coalition government led by HD Kumaraswamy. He was also the longest-serving KPCC chief (eight years) and has a PhD in plant physiology from the Waite Agriculture Research Centre of the University of Adelaide.

Reacting to a question on him losing out in the race to become Chief Minister last time and if he could be seen in the race once again, Mr Parameshwara merely said, on coming to power, the high command will decide, and whomever they decide everyone will accept, keeping trust in that person.

"Our purpose is to bring the party to power first, after that it is left to the high command, whomever they decide, we will accept it... everyone will have the aspiration, and given an opportunity I'm also ready to be a part of it," he said, to a query regarding him not pushing himself for the Chief Ministerial position.

Mr Parameshwara, who represents Koratagere in Tumakuru district, had lost the 2013 assembly polls, when he was KPCC president. He was a contender for the Chief Minister's post then, but as he lost the elections, he was made an MLC and a minister in the Siddaramaiah-headed government.

Alleging that there were attempts by some in the Congress to block the rise of Dalit leaders, Mr Parameshwara had in the past claimed that he has thrice been denied the Chief Minister's post, as he belonged to the community.

Noting that prospects are "very good" for the Congress party, Mr Parameshwara today said there is confidence that the party will 100 per cent form the government, and "all the surveys too are showing us ahead".

"This means the situation is favourable for the Congress.. we are confident of coming to power. We will come with full majority by crossing much more than the 113-mark and form the government," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)