Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara dropped a bomb during an event in Davangere by stating he was denied the chief minister’s post thrice as he was a Dalit.

“PK Basavalingappa and KH Ranganath missed the chief ministerial post. Mallikarjun Kharge also couldn’t become the CM. I missed it thrice. Somehow, I was made the deputy CM,” Parameshwara said at the event held on Sunday.

“Dalits are being discriminated at the government level too. Even with reservation, there has been injustice in promotions.”

Congress had ceded the CM’s post to alliance partner JDS’s HD Kumaraswamy, leading to considerbale discomfort within the party’s state unit.

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Former CM Siddaramaiah dismissed the statement: “It is the Congress which is taking care of Dalits and other neglected sections of society. I do not know in what context he made a statement like that. It is better if we ask him.”