Bengaluru (Karnataka): Congress MLA Priyank M Kharge on Thursday dismissed talk of projecting a Chief Ministerial face in the next Assembly elections in Karnataka as some people's fantasy and said it would be fought under collective leadership. On some MLAs favouring projecting Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah as the party's candidate for the post, Kharge said that might be their personal view but it does not work like that in the party.
'There is a procedure for all these things. They are going to consult the CLP (Congress Legislative Party). Elections are really far (two years) away. The question of who will become CM arises only when you have a majority,' he told PTI. Recent days have seen at least half a dozen Congress MLAs pitching for Siddaramaiah, bringing factionalism in the party to the fore. Some are also reportedly pushing the case of state party chief D K Shivakumar.
Kharge said talks about who is going to be the CM or CM candidate is completely a waste of time. The son of the veteran Congress leader M Mallikarjun Kharge said the focus now should be on trying to reach and help as many people as possible during the pandemic, expose BJP's 'duplicity in the vaccination programme, building the party cadre from the grassroots level and go to elections with a 'united front. He took a dig at MLAs who publicly expressed their choice of CM candidate.
Read: 'Not in hurry for CM's post': Karnataka Cong chief Shivakumar on leadership tussle with Siddaramaiah