BENGALURU: Cutouts of deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar as the next Karnataka chief minister were put up outside the Congress office in Bengaluru on Wednesday. DK Shivakumar on Sunday categorically refuted Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s accusation that the chief minister’s chair was wobbling in the state.Speaking to reporters at Lingasagur in Raichur district, Shivakumar said, “No chairs are wobbling in Karnataka. All chairs are stable. I don’t know what the Prime Minister is seeing.”He was responding to PM’s statement that the CM’s chair was shaking in Karnataka and that the same is happening in Kerala and Punjab as well.Union minister HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday claimed that there was a tug of war between Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar over conducting polls for five city corporations under the GBA.The JD(S) leader said that while Siddaramaiah wanted polls to be held, Shivakumar was not keen on it, which is the reason behind the government’s Supreme Court petition seeking additional time to conduct the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) elections.“There is an internal fight going on between the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister regarding the GBA elections. Siddaramaiah feels that if the GBA elections are held, his CM position will be secured for another six months, while D K Shivakumar believes he may not become the CM if the elections are held now,” Kumaraswamy said in response to a question.Speaking to reporters here, he said, “One wants to keep his CM position, and the other wants to somehow get the position, so there is a tug of war over the GBA polls issue.” Karnataka State Election Commissioner (SEC) GS Sangreshi said on Friday that elections to the five city corporations under the GBA will be held anytime between June 14 and June 24 and the exact date will be announced soon.However, the SEC subsequently filed an application before the Supreme Court seeking an extension of time until September 30 to hold the polls, citing the National Census-2024 and Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.The Supreme Court had earlier directed the Karnataka government and the State Election Commission to conduct Bengaluru local body elections by June 30.(With inputs from agencies)
