No permanent enemies in politics, says Satish Jarkiholi

Differences between leaders are common, but they will not affect our work, Minister Satish Jarkiholi said in Belagavi on Saturday.

He was responding to questions about his reported differences with Minister Laxman Savadi.

“There have been differences between us in the past, but such differences are common. They exist between several legislators and Ministers. We will work with compromise. Whenever we are in Bengaluru, Mr. Savadi and I are together. Sometimes you tend to reconcile, and sometimes you do not. That is common. There are no permanent enemies or friends in politics,” he said.

“When you are in the same party, the high command tells you to compromise and not to fight,” he said. He dismissed the controversy over Mr. Savadi’s welcome posters not including his pictures as a minor issue.

They were not banners made with government money. The Minister’s followers have made those banners. I can not insist that they carry my pictures, he said.

Woman Minister after session

A woman will be appointed to the Cabinet after the monsoon session, Mr. Jarkiholi said.

The party wants to appoint a Minister in the Cabinet, but the appointment was postponed due to some confusion. A woman Minister will be sworn in after the session. Till then, the Chief Minister will be holding the women and child development portfolio, Mr. Jarkiholi said.

There are several able candidates in the party, like Laxmi Hebbalkar, Umashree, Gayatri Shamtegouda and others. One of them will be chosen soon, he said.

To a query, he said that there was no pressure or interference from Siddaramaiah’s followers. “However, the former Chief Minister’s suggestions are being considered in such issues,” he added.

The new Chief Minister has given us a 100-day target to achieve 10 tasks. We will work towards achieving them, Mr. Jarkiholi said.

“No Ministers have been appointed for the new department of Praja Seve or public grievance redressal. But then, many departments have not been allocated to any Minister yet. Whoever can spare more time for the task of meeting people and receiving grievances shall be given the new department,” he said.

He said that some BJP leaders were making insulting remarks about Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan by questioning his patriotism. “He has requested the Chief Minister not to make him the district in-charge of any district. It should not be seen as if he is hesitant to hoist the national flag. He is busy with BBMP elections and does not want to focus elsewhere. The BJP RSS leaders who did not hoist the flag in their office for several decades have no right to accuse us of lack of patriotism. The BJP should not play politics in such matters”, he said.

“The Belagavi City Corporation is hesitant to pass a resolution that Belagavi is an integral part of Karnataka. The State government will take serious note of it,” Mr. Jarkiholi said.