It seems that the rumours of a power-sharing tussle in Karnataka refuse to die down. A prominent seer, Pranavananda Swamiji, on Monday claimed that mutts (Hindu monasteries) backing Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar were denied any allocation in the state budget presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah earlier this month. Notably, Pranavananda Swamiji supports Shivakumar to become the chief minister.
The latest flashpoint came after Congress MLA Iqbal Hussain, considered close to Shivakumar, publicly expressed his dissatisfaction last week over what he called inadequate fund allocation to his Ramanagara constituency. He alleged that key development demands were ignored despite repeated appeals to Siddaramaiah, triggering renewed chatter of factionalism within the Karnataka Congress.
Escalating the controversy further, Pranavananda Swamiji accused the state government of deliberately sidelining mutts that had backed Shivakumar’s bid for the chief ministerial post. Claiming that “not even a single rupee” was allocated to such institutions in the budget, the seer alleged political discrimination.
“There is another reason for coming here today. In the recent budget, not even a single rupee was allocated to the mutts of those swamijis who had met DK Shivakumar and urged that he be made the chief minister,” he said, adding that Siddaramaiah had allegedly taken a stand that no support sho