Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Wednesday said that he will continue in his position for the remainder of his term, dismissing speculation of any change in leadership. “I will be there for another two-and-a-half years,” he told reporters in Mysuru.
Siddaramaiah was fielding questions about opposition parties’ prediction that the 76-year-old would be replaced by his deputy, D.K. Shivakumar, when the Congress government in the state reaches the halfway mark of its five-year term, in November.
“They (Opposition) are not soothsayers and cannot predict the future. Nothing will work the way they state, they don’t know the realities,” he said.
Having secured 135 in a House of 224 in the May 2023 elections, the Congress high command, for several days, held off on the announcement of its chief ministerial pick for Karnataka. Both Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah had staked claim to the top post.
Siddaramaiah emerged victorious in this battle. As reported earlier by ThePrint, the condition was that it would be a power-sharing pact with Shivakumar taking over mid-term. Multiple Congress leaders confirmed the existence of a power-sharing pact in private but never publicly acknowledged it, fuelling confusion within the ranks of the party.
Over the years, the issue was frequently raked up by both sides, either by the leaders themselves or their loyalists. Siddaramaiah has never acknowledged the existence of such an agreement. On the contrary, he has consistently asserted that he would continue as chief minister and also lead the party into the 2028 assembly elections.
On Wednesday, he said the decision was up to the party top brass. “Whatever the high command decides, we have to go by it,” he said.
Any statement by Shivakumar hinting at a leadership change is likely to be met with Siddaramaiah loyalists hitting out. With the chips stacked as they are now, Siddaramaiah commands support among a large section of Congress MLAs. Several have even demanded that Shivakumar be replaced as the state Congress chief, urging the high command to appoint at least two other deputy chief ministers. However, there is speculation of limited changes within the cabinet to give opportunities to others. Siddaramaiah has so far had to dole out cabinet ranks to nearly a hundred people, including 33 ministers, to placate them.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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