Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will announce on Thursday whether he has decided to step down from the top post after a breakfast meeting at his official residence with his deputy and rival DK Shivakumar and other Cabinet colleagues, with two party legislators indicating that the 77-year-old veteran was set to resign.
Sidamaria is likely to meet Governor Thawarchand Gehlot in the afternoon after the breakfast meeting, which the party leadership may attend, people familiar with the matter said. The above leaders also said that several formulas are being discussed if Siddaramaiah chooses to step down, including one in which several deputy chief ministers are appointed.
“I will speak tomorrow,” the Prime Minister said after offering flowers in honor of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on his death anniversary.
Congress member Ashok K Pathan said, “The Prime Minister may resign after 3 pm on Thursday.” “He has already got an appointment with the governor. About the next chief minister, the high command will decide,” Pathan told reporters.
“Yes, there is a 100 per cent possibility,” he told reporters when asked if Shivakumar was likely to become chief minister.
Read also | ‘Siddaramaiah compromise’: His predecessor’s big claim amid buzz of CM change in Karnataka
Senior MP RV Deshpande said the Prime Minister may resign on Thursday or the next day.
“I was with the prime minister. He said: ‘I have decided to resign.’ I did not ask him why he resigned. We tried to convince him, saying: ‘Why don’t you continue?’” Deshpande said.
“We said the decision was a surprise to us, but he said: ‘No, I have decided to resign.’” He added that the army officers who were there wanted him to continue, but he said that he had given his word to the high command and would respect it.
These developments came after marathon meetings on Tuesday between the party leadership, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, with people aware of the matter saying the top leadership pushed the former to step down.
Read also | Karnataka ‘confusion’ to be cleared tomorrow: Minister amid CM Siddaramaiah’s resignation uproar
Officially, the party said the discussions are on the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections and Karnataka Legislative Assembly polls. 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.
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.
Party general secretary KC Venugopal and Karnataka general secretary in-charge Randeep Surjewala arrived in Bengaluru on Wednesday afternoon and are likely to attend the breakfast meeting. At the Bengaluru airport, Surjewala said that the decision to hold a meeting of the Congress legislative party had not been taken and refuted allegations of change of leadership in Karnataka. However, party leaders said a CLP meeting is expected to take place on Friday and the swearing-in will likely take place over the weekend.
“..Congress has not currently called a meeting of the legislative party. No further decision has been taken yet. As things develop, we will inform you… I want to assure every brother and sister in Karnataka (and) every Kannadiga that the only decision we will take will be in the interest of the people of Karnataka,” Surjewala said.
Surjewala praised both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for their contributions and said, “Whatever decision the party takes in the coming days I will inform you… The only decision that Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will take will be for the benefit of Karnataka only, and not for the benefit of individuals.”
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.
According to party leaders aware of the developments, a proposal to create four deputy chief minister posts was mooted during the party leadership’s negotiations with the prime minister. “The Prime Minister has sought multiple posts of Deputy Prime Minister for his allied leaders as part of a broader transitional arrangement being discussed with the Congress high command. Representation and internal balance are now a key part of the negotiations,” a senior Congress leader said on condition of anonymity.
But Siddaramaiah loyalists pointed out that he was the only backward class president in the Congress. “Rahul Gandhi wants to establish himself as a champion of OBCs and Dalits. But what message will he give by removing the only OBC CM?” said a former Rajya Sabha member.
Late in the evening, Surjewala went to meet Siddaramaiah at the latter’s house.
Karnataka CM AS Ponnanna admitted that some changes will be made. “…what will happen, how it will happen, what will happen, what is the nature of the change, we have to wait and watch.”
Party leaders also said that the decision on forming the government will be taken after consulting senior leaders in Bengaluru. “We were expecting several leaders close to Siddaramaiah to be part of the government,” a senior party leader said.
The leaders participating in the talks are trying to obtain his support before implementing any transition process. Another congressional employee, who requested anonymity, said: “There is caution within the party about how to deal with the transition.” “No one wants a situation where one department feels left out after a change.”
Shivakumar, who has long been seen as a contender for the chief minister’s post, has remained publicly reserved during the latest round of developments.
Several leaders — including MP Patel, Ishwar Khandre, G Parameswara, Tanveer Sait, HC Mahadevappa and Priyank Kharge — are being discussed as potential Cabinet candidates, the people cited above said.
“One of the priorities is to ensure that all key communities see themselves represented in the new arrangement,” a party leader familiar with the discussions said. Along with the government, changes are also expected in the Karnataka Congress with the nomination of a new state unit president in place of Shivakumar, who is the deputy chief minister and president of the Karnataka Congress.
