Siddaramaiah set to exit

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is likely to step down on Thursday for a change of guard in the State, with Deputy CM and State Congress President DK Shivakumar likely to take over. Siddaramaiah is expected to tender his resignation at around 11 am on Thursday, sources said. A number of ministers and legislators met Siddaramaiah at his residence on Wednesday and held discussions with him, sources added.

Siddaramiah has sought time from the Governor for Thursday and will host a breakfast meeting for his Cabinet colleagues at his official residence. This follows reports that the Congress high command has offering him a central role in the party, including a Rajya Sabha seat.

Senior Congress MLA and Chairperson of the Administrative Reforms Commission in the State RV Deshpande, confirmed that Siddaramaiah had decided to resign. The former minister, who met Siddaramaiah at his residence, said that when some MLAs insisted he should not resign, the CM replied that he had given his word to the high command and would respect it.

“I was with the CM. He said, ‘I have decided to resign.’ I did not question him about why he was resigning. We tried to persuade him to continue,’” Deshpande said.

On Wednesday, supporters of Siddaramaiah gathered outside his official residence, protesting amid intense speculation that he may step down. Police deployed outside his official residence, Kaveri, whisked away the protesters in buses as they shouted slogans.

Supporters accused the Congress high command of engineering a crisis, pointing out that the party’s dominance in Karnataka rests on Siddaramaiah and his support base. They also raised slogans against the Congress leadership, expressing displeasure over the move for a CM change.

AICC General Secretary in charge of the State, Randeep Singh Surjewala, urged the media not to speculate on the issue. He said the Congress is capable of deciding its leadership matters and would inform the public whenever any decision is taken.