Being run through remote control from Delhi: BJP leader calls Shivakumar 'dummy CM'
Senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, alleging
Senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, alleging that the Karnataka government was being run through a "remote control" from Delhi and describing the newly appointed chief minister as a "dummy CM" over the delay in allocating portfolios to the recently inducted ministers. Targeting the Congress leadership, Ashoka claimed the three-day delay in assigning portfolios after the Cabinet expansion reflected the party high command's grip over the state government. He questioned whether the allocation was awaiting approval from the Congress leadership in Delhi.
Read Full Story "It has been three days since the new ministers took the oath of office yet there is still no sign of portfolio allocation!" Ashoka said in a post on X. Addressing Shivakumar, he wrote, "Dear dummy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, are you waiting for the high command's approval to assign portfolios to the payment quota ministers or have you held back because the agreed payment has not yet been credited to the account?" On Monday, nearly two months after taking charge as chief minister, Shivakumar expanded his Cabinet by inducting 19 ministers, taking the strength of the ministry to 33 while leaving one berth vacant.
Escalating his attack, Ashoka alleged that the Congress was relying on AICC general secretary Randeep Surjewala to keep the government afloat by managing disgruntled MLAs. "Meanwhile, Delhi's collection agent, Randeep Surjewala, is busy going from one dissatisfied MLA's house to another, trying to placate them and doing patchwork to keep the weakening government together," he said. He further mocked the Congress government by asking whether Surjewala would now have to travel to Bengaluru to sign every government file or whether files would instead be sent to Delhi for approval. Calling Shivakumar a "rubber-stamp Chief Minister", Ashoka alleged that the Congress leadership in Delhi, rather than the elected state government, was taking key decisions.
He claimed people were beginning to realise that Karnataka was witnessing "a drama of the Delhi high command running the government through remote control", reiterating the BJP's charge that the Congress high command was calling the shots in the state. Ends
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