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“There is no confusion over the statement of Congress MLC Yathindra Siddaramaiah (son of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah). When he said that I can succeed Mr. Siddaramaiah, he meant to say that I can lead the AHINDA movement in the State after Mr. Siddaramaiah retires from active public life. The statement is about ideological succession and not political succession,” Minister Satish Jarkiholi said in Belagavi on Sunday. He said that it is wrong to interpret the statement to mean that he will be the next Chief Minister or that Mr. Siddaramaiah will leave office in the middle of his term as Chief Minister. ”It is only about ideological leadership and the AHINDA movement. There is no other meaning to it,” he said. To a query on Cabinet reshuffle or expansion, Satish Jarkiholi said that it is being discussed for some time now. But then, the high command will decide on the issue. “There was some discussion that the Cabinet should be reshuffled after 30 months. I think that discussion has now reached its final stage. It may have been discussed at the Delhi level. Everything will be done as per the decision of the high command. There are several leaders in the party who are eligible to be Ministers. But there are only 34 vacancies in the Council of Ministers. The high command will decide who will be replaced by whom and whether their responsibilities should be reduced or enhanced,” he said. “Mr. Siddaramaiah has already clarified the issue. I am not authorised to comment on it,” he said. He said that the statement of Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda is nothing out of the ordinary as everyone will have to resign if the high command demands it. “If they ask us to quit, we will have to quit to make room for new members,” he said.
