Amid speculations of change of leadership in Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivkumar will hold a breakfast meeting at CM residence ‘Kaveri’ at 9:30 am on Saturday. This meeting is taking place following the instructions of the party high command.
Meanwhile the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Made it clear on Friday that whatever decision the high command takes, he will accept it. He said that in order to end the deadlock, the high command has asked him and Shivkumar to sit together tomorrow morning and discuss the matter.
In a tweet, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, “I am firm on my stand. I have already told that I will work as per the orders of the party seniors. Even now and tomorrow, I will say the same. Senior party leaders have called me and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and directed them to meet. Therefore, I have invited them for lunch, where we will discuss. D.K. Shivakumar has also said that he will accept what the high command says. If If the high command calls me to New Delhi, I will go.”
DK’s target on Siddaramaiah
Both the leaders will meet tomorrow at 9:30 am at ‘Kaveri’, the official residence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. In recent times, Shivkumar and his supporters have been continuously demanding that he be given the post of CM as promised by the party high command after victory in the 2023 elections.
At the same time, Siddaramaiah and his loyalists claim that no such agreement was made, and he will remain the Chief Minister for his entire tenure. Earlier, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar shared the stage at a government program to show unity. However, Shivakumar had taken a dig at Siddaramaiah while praising Sonia Gandhi’s ‘sacrifice’ after the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, sources have said that the Congress high command Karnataka Is assessing the pros and cons of a possible leadership change. If Siddaramaiah is replaced, Shivakumar will be the most likely successor. Siddaramaiah has strong support among the SC-ST, Muslim and OBC communities, while Shivakumar is considered useful to the high command due to his organizational abilities and election management.
Other developments amid speculation
Meanwhile, many MLAs supporting Shiv Kumar have gone to Delhi and raised the demand of making him the CM, due to which the controversy has become more intense. The high command is also reconsidering the so-called “2.5 year rotational deal”, which has been completely rejected by the Siddaramaiah camp. A section of Shivkumar supporting MLAs had also gone to Delhi.
Home Minister Mr. Parameshwara supported the appointment of Shivakumar as Chief Minister on the wishes of the High Command, while Siddaramaiah loyalist Zamir Ahmed Khan immediately refuted this.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that this matter is not for public discussion. Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra Siddaramaiah denied any instructions for leadership change and called the speculation a media illusion.
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