The Congress tried to resolve the long-standing impasse in Karnataka with marathon meetings on Tuesday between the party leadership and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar, with people aware of the matter saying the top leadership had pushed the former to step down but he was weighing his options.
Officially, the party said the discussions are on the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections and Karnataka Legislative Assembly polls. Siddaramaiah also denied reports of discussions on changing the chief minister. But the above-mentioned people said party president Mallikarjun Kharge told Siddaramaiah that the latter needed to step down and make way for new leadership. However, the 77-year-old leader refused to comply immediately and instead asked for two days to make a decision.
The above persons also said that Siddaramaiah was reluctant to hand over his duties to Shivakumar but Kharge told him that the choice of successor was not his.
Read also | Rajya Sabha likely to move from Siddaramaiah, but Shivakumar may not be Speaker: What’s next for Karnataka?
During the day, Siddaramaiah met party general secretary KC Venugopal, general secretary in charge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala and Karji, and then met senior leader Rahul Gandhi. Shivakumar met everyone but was not present in any meeting with the CM.
Several Karnataka ministers flew to Delhi on Tuesday. Publicly, the party tried to show unity. “Today, the entire discussion was focused only on the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections and Karnataka Assembly elections. Whatever speculations you people are making, it is just speculation, not a fact at all. Today we discussed Rajya Sabha seats and Karnataka Assembly seats,” Venugopal told the media, flanked by Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.
Hizb ut-Tahrir spoke to at least three leaders, privy to the details and representing various factions, who said this was aimed at giving Siddaramaiah the respect the prime minister deserves.
After the meetings, Siddaramaiah went to the residence of his aide and state minister KJ George. In response to a question about any change in leadership, he said: “It is just speculation.”
When asked if there was any discussion about changing the leadership, he replied: “No.” Regarding the possible cabinet reshuffle, the Prime Minister said: “It has not been put up for discussion.”
After the Congress party scored its biggest victory in a generation in Karnataka in 2023, the government has been mired in tensions over the top job. Siddaramaiah, who has served as chief minister twice and built a popular coalition of backwards, Dalits and Muslims that propelled the Congress to a rare victory over the BJP, agreed to swap power midway through the five-year term, but has so far blocked Shivakumar, the party’s chief reformer and election financier, the people cited above said.
Now, with the next House elections nearly two years away and the government in recession, Congress is hoping to put the house in order.
HT had reported on Tuesday that Siddaramaiah may be offered a formula in which he steps down in exchange for a Rajya Sabha seat and a possible ministerial post for his son Yatindra – a member of the state legislative council – in return.
Four Rajya Sabha seats, including the Kharg seat, are scheduled to go to the polls from Karnataka in June, with the Congress expected to win three of them.
Over the course of the day, Siddaramaiah was told in the first meeting with Venugopal, Surjewala and Karji – HT reported how the three were in favor of the change – and Rahul Gandhi that he had achieved great success, and that it was time to hand over responsibility to a new generation, the people cited above said. Sources added that in the friendly meeting, the focus was on convincing Siddaramaiah to resign and return to the point that change is necessary before the 2028 Assembly elections. One of the people familiar with the details said that the Prime Minister came prepared with a presentation of all his achievements and the reasons that compelled him to remain in office. He then requested a one-on-one meeting with Rahul Gandhi before lunch. The source added that the meeting lasted half an hour.
At the meeting, Rahul Gandhi asked Siddaramaiah about the government’s performance and the Prime Minister made his case, after which Rahul Gandhi left, and Shivakumar joined the others for lunch, the people cited above said.
After lunch, Karg told Siddaramaiah that Shivakumar was the choice for leadership and according to one of the people mentioned above, Siddaramaiah expressed his disapproval. When Karg – who is learned to have used examples from his career to try to convince the Prime Minister – asked Siddaramaiah to consider coming to the Rajya Sabha, the latter did not accept the offer and asked for two days to return to the top brass, the people cited above said.
In the evening, Siddaramaiah called a meeting of the ministers close to him at a house in Sunder Nagar. According to two leaders present at the meeting, the Prime Minister has indicated that he will not resign before the Rajya Sabha elections.
(With inputs from Arun Dev in Bengaluru)
