Karnataka CM, Dy CM to be summoned when needed: Kharge

AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar would be called to New Delhi for discussions whenever necessary, amid an ongoing “power tussle” within the ruling Congress in Karnataka.

Kharge said, “Whenever necessary, the party would call them,” in response to a question from reporters on when the CM and Deputy CM would be summoned to Delhi for talks.

The leadership tussle within the ruling party has intensified amid speculation about a possible change of chief minister after the Congress Government completed the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20.

The speculation has been fuelled by the reported “power-sharing” arrangement between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar at the time of the Government’s formation in 2023.

Siddaramaiah, who recently became the longest-serving chief minister of the State, surpassing the record held by Devaraj Urs, has expressed confidence that he will complete the full five-year term. However, he has maintained that the final decision rests with the Congress high command.

Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, on Sunday said his hard work had brought him this far in politics and that he was confident about the Congress party’s future decision regarding him.

His remarks are being seen as an assertion of his chief ministerial ambitions.

According to party sources, Shivakumar met Kharge at the latter’s residence earlier in the day, and the two reportedly travelled together in the same car before heading to Kalaburagi to participate in a State Government programme.

Kharge had last month said that confusion over the leadership issue in the party’s Karnataka unit exists only at the local level and not within the party high command.

He had also urged local leaders to take “ownership of internal disputes instead of blaming the high command.”