The demand for making senior BJP leader and Karnataka Minister B Sriramulu a Deputy Chief Minister has resurfaced with key Ballari MLA Somashekar Reddy on Sunday saying a delegation of party legislators from the mine-rich district would take up the matter with Chief Minister B S Yedyiyurappa.
Currently a Health Minister in the state cabinet, Sriramulu too expressed hope that the party leadership would "recognise" him in the days to come.
Reddy is the brother of mining baron and former state minister G Janardhan Reddy, who once had "complete hold" on Ballari district's politics, while Sriramulu is his close confidant.
(BJP President) Amit Shah had announced (ahead of assembly elections) that Sriramulu will be made Deputy Chief Minister once the party came to power, dont know why he did not become (DyCM). We are all pained Sriramulu did not become Deputy Chief Minister, Somashekar Reddy said in Ballari.
Speaking to reporters, he said all BJP MLAs from the district planned to meet the Chief Minister and take up their plea for making Sriramulu the DyCM and also the district in-charge Minister of Ballari.
Some Valmiki (a Scheduled Tribe) community leaders and various seers had also voiced support for Sriramulu, who hails from the community.
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Sriramulu, who was also present, said various seers, including the Valmiki community pontiff wanted him to be made deputy chief minister.
"People and MLAs also have this feeling that I should get... in the days to come our government and leaders will recognise me, he said.
Sriramulu was seen as a possible DyCM candidate during the 2018 assembly poll campaign itself and the hopes were revived when the BJP came to power in July this year after the collapse of the JDS-Congress coalition government.
However, he was not chosen for the post though he had been inducted into the cabinet.
To Sriramulus disappointment, he also did not get the district in-charge of Ballari, which had been given to Laxman Savadi.
The Yediyurappa Ministry currently has three Deputy Chief Ministers - Govind Karjol (SC), Ashwath Narayan (Vokkaliga) and Laxman Savadi (Lingayat).