Advising Siddaramaiah to resign, Ramesh Jarkiholi says it’ll be dark days if Shivakumar is made CM

Warning of difficult times ahead for Karnataka if D.K. Shivakumar becomes Chief Minister, BJP MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi urges Siddaramaiah to resign.

Karnataka will face hard days if Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar becomes the Chief Minister, BJP MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi said in Gokak on Saturday.

It is my belief that beleagured Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is now facing corruption charges, is a mass leader.

He is fit to be Chief Minister, he said. But if the Congress forces him out of the Chief Minister’s post only to make Mr. Shivakumar the next Chief Minister, then Karnataka will face a very hard time, he said.

It will be dark days ahead if that happens, he added. “If Mr. Siddaramaiah goes, the Congress has no chance of survival. My advice to Mr. Siddaramaiah is that he resign, dissolve the government and face fresh elections,” he said.

He recalled Mr. Siddaramaiah’s speech during the House session when B.S. Yediyurappa resigned as Chief Minister. Unlike other leaders, Mr. Siddaramaiah did not speak with malice against Mr. Yediyurappa. There is a mutual respect between the two leaders, he said.

Meanwhile, Minister and KPCC working president Satish Jarkiholi said that the BJP is trying to unseat the Chief Minister, using the office of the Governor.

He said that the State government and the Congress will take up a legal and political fight against the issue. He said that he will join the Congress leaders in Bengaluru on Monday for the purpose.