Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar signalled a truce in their power struggle Saturday following a breakfast meeting held at the CM’s residence at the instance of the Congress central leadership.
Siddaramaiah also claimed that the reports of the tussle between him and Shivakumar was a “media creation”. He said that a visit of some party MLAs close to the Deputy CM to Delhi on November 20, which was apparently aimed at lobbying for Shivakumar’s claim to the CM’s post with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, was a bid to seek ministerial positions for themselves in case of a Cabinet reshuffle.
“The intention of meeting today was due to some of the problems that have arisen in the last month. We spoke about the forthcoming elections to the city corporation, town corporations and zilla parishad. We also discussed the 2028 state Assembly polls and how we worked together for the 2023 polls. We have decided to work together,” Siddaramaiah told reporters, flanked by Shivakumar.
“There are no differences between us. A session of the state Legislature is set to begin on December 8 and there too, we will face the Opposition unitedly,” the CM said.
ಉಪಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿಗಳಾದ ಡಿ.ಕೆ.ಶಿವಕುಮಾರ್ ಅವರ ಜೊತೆ ಬೆಳಗ್ಗಿನ ಉಪಹಾರ ಸೇವಿಸುತ್ತಾ, ಕೆಲಹೊತ್ತು ಮಾತುಕತೆ ನಡೆಸಿದೆ. @DKShivakumar pic.twitter.com/7ak3xFjatL
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) November 29, 2025
The simmering conflict between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, which started in the wake of the Congress’s victory in the 2023 polls under their combined leadership, surfaced on November 20, when the Siddaramaiah-led government completed 2.5 years. Shivakumar then upped the ante to claim the CM’s post while obliquely referring to a “rotational CM” deal involving them and the Congress leadership.
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“Politically, our decision is to follow the directives of the Congress high command. We have no groupism and I have never believed in camps. We will work together,” Shivakumar told reporters.
The CM claimed that the state leadership issue was a “false flag” raised by the media. “Some of the media reporters have created this confusion. The MLAs went to Delhi because I indicated a Cabinet reshuffle. It does not mean that they are opposed to the leadership,” he said. “Ultimately, we will follow the high command’s decisions. Our meeting today on the high command’s orders is a settlement.”
Siddaramaiah stressed that the breakfast meeting was a result of the Congress leadership’s
intervention with party general secretary K C Venugopal calling both the CM and the DCM to ask them to hold a meeting ahead of the Legislature session.
Both the leaders maintained that on the leadership issue, they will “abide by the decision of the party high command.”
Shivakumar said, “We are loyal party soldiers and are basically party workers. We know that the party is in a bad situation and we will continue to fight for the party under the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi.”
On Friday, he said he was not in a hurry to become the CM, adding that “The party workers may be eager, but I am in no hurry. The party will take all the decisions.”
Over the last week, Shivakumar has indicated that there was an unwritten agreement between him, Siddaramaiah and the Congress leadership for sharing of power for 2.5 years each, which was reached after the government was formed in May 2023. Siddaramaiah has rejected such suggestions of an agreement.
On Saturday, after the breakfast meeting, when Siddaramaiah was asked about this agreement, he said, “We have emphasised that we will abide by any decision of the party high command.”
The Congress leadership has to take a decision on transition of power in Karnataka on account of Siddaramaiah turning 80 in 2028 and the party not likely to project him as the CM candidate in the next polls despite his stature as a mass leader having the support of the OBCs, Dalits and minorities across the state.
Shivakumar belongs to the dominant Vokkaliga community — which has traditionally allied with the Janata Dal (Secular) led by former PM H D Deve Gowda — has a smaller support base, which is restricted to southern Karnataka.
While Shivakumar is keen to become the CM in early 2026 and present the state Budget, his conditions for continuation of Siddaramaiah as the CM till then include a freeze on the Cabinet reshuffle, which the latter has been pushing for with Kharge and Rahul, party sources said. A Cabinet reshuffle is seen by the DCM as a sign of Siddaramaiah’s continuance as the CM for a tenure beyond 2026.
Shivakumar’s other conditions include his continuance as the sole DCM, state Congress president and the Bengaluru minister with mega projects worth crores conceived under him
are in the pipeline, and the post of the state milk federation president for his brother D K Suresh, sources said.
On his part, Siddaramaiah is keen to create a record for having the longest tenure as the Karnataka CM on January 7, when he will cross the seven years and 10 month tenure of former CM Devaraj Urs. He would cite this wish if pushed, sources said.
Siddaramaiah is also keen on seeing through the current caste survey in the state and its implementation, which is one of the core issues taken up by Rahul.
Congress sources said that during the turmoil of the government formation in May 2023, a party leader had suggested that Shivakumar’s interests would be protected but there was no agreement involving the top Congress leaders like Rahul or Sonia Gandhi on power sharing.
While Shivakumar has hinted at such an agreement frequently, Siddaramaiah has denied it even to close associates, sources said.
On November 27, in what seemed like a direct social media exchange between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, they posted cryptic tweets regarding the deal. “Keeping one’s word is the greatest strength in the world,” Shivakumar said in a post, adding “Word power is world power.”
Siddaramaiah put out a post in an apparent response, saying “A word is not power unless it betters the World for the people.” Listing the “success” of the Congress guarantee schemes, he pointed out that he had fulfilled 95% of the campaign promises during his first term and 243 of the 593 promises in his two-and-half tenure in the second term so far.
“The mandate given by the people of Karnataka is not a moment, but a responsibility that lasts five full years. The Congress party, including me, is walking the talk for our people with compassion, consistency, and courage. Our Word to Karnataka is not a slogan, it means the World to us,” Siddaramaiah said.