Congress minister, MLAs loyal to Karnataka Deputy CM Shivakumar head to Delhi

A minister and few MLAs loyal to Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar headed to New Delhi on Thursday to meet top brass indicating a power tussle in the ruling Congress, sources said.

The development came on a day after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah completed two-and-half-year term in office.

There was stiff competition between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the chief minister’s post after the declaration of Assembly election results on 20 May 2023, and the Congress had managed to convince the latter and made him the Deputy CM.

There were some reports at the time that a compromise had been reached based on a “rotational chief minister formula,” according to which Shivakumar will become CM after two-and-a-half years, but they have not been officially confirmed by the party.

However, Siddaramaiah rejected these reports and asserted that he will be the chief minister for five years.

Some Shivakumar loyalists wanted their leader to occupy the CM chair.

According to sources, Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy, MLAs Iqbal Hussain, H C Balakrishna and S R Srinivas headed to Delhi on Thursday.

Twelve more MLAs are likely to reach Delhi on Friday, they added.

A few days ago, about a dozen MLCs had camped in the national capital and spoke to the Congress general secretaries, sources said.

Addressing a gathering in Chamarajanagar on Thursday, Siddaramaiah hinted that he would continue in the CM post.

He emphasised that his position has been strong from the beginning and will continue to remain so in the future.

Meanwhile, Shivakumar’s brother D K Suresh, a former MP, said Siddaramaiah should not backtrack from his promises.

When asked whether he (CM) would keep up his promise made to Shivakumar, Suresh said he has no clue about it.

“You should ask about big things to big people only. How can I answer such questions,” he told reporters in Bengaluru.

According to Suresh, his brother had communicated to the seniors in the party whatever was needed.

“The matter is now left to the party, its leadership, the AICC president and Rahul Gandhi to decide,” he added.