Amid growing indications that the Congress high command in New Delhi was preparing to carry out leadership changes in Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has issued a strong statement in the national capital, asserting that there has been no such discussion among the senior party leaders.
“A few days ago, I stated that I would be the CM for a full tenure of five years. Why did I say it? Is the chief minister’s position lying vacant? Why is there a discussion on this?” he stated.
The strong media statement has assumed significance as it was made in Delhi amid indications that the AICC leadership has started exercises to implement an unwritten agreement that Siddaramaiah would hand over power to Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress chief D K Shivakumar when the party completes 2.5 years of its tenure in November.
“It is quite natural that these questions will arise as the government approaches the halfway mark of its tenure of 2.5 years. However, it does not mean that there is any kind of agreement,” Siddaramaiah said.
Reiterating that there is no agreement vetted by the AICC leadership for power sharing in Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, however, stated that he and Shivakumar both agreed in 2023 to abide by any decision taken by the Congress high command on change of leadership.
“Look, I am saying it again (about his tenure as CM). The high command has said that we should abide by any decision that is taken by them. We have agreed that we will abide by any decision taken by the high command. I have said it several times. It has been stated by Shivakumar as well,” Siddaramaiah said.
Siddaramaiah’s statement came amid an AICC exercise through the party general secretary in charge of Karnataka, Randeep Singh Surjewala, to elicit the opinions of nearly 100 Congress MLAs in Karnataka on the functioning of the Congress government under the CM—a move seen by his supporters as likely to undermine his leadership.
Story continues below this ad
“See, Surjewala has stated clearly that the exercise in Karnataka is not about a change of leadership. Why is there still speculation? He is the general secretary and in charge of Karnataka. This (leadership issue) is not being discussed in the party,” Siddaramaiah said.
The Karnataka chief minister claimed that importance should not be attributed to statements by individual MLAs since they are not based on a decision of the Congress party, but based on personal admiration for him and Shivakumar.
“Some legislators may say things out of admiration for some leaders. One or two MLAs may say that he (Shivakumar) should be the CM out of admiration for him. Some will say that I should continue as the CM. It is not a decision of the party but of individuals. The party decision will be the one taken by the high command, which both of us will abide by,” Siddaramaiah said.
“The party leaders must say it…(Mallikarjun) Kharge should say it, or Rahul Gandhi should say it, or (K C) Venugopal should say it. Surjewala has said it clearly that there is no discussion of leadership change,” the Karnataka CM said at the Karnataka Bhavan in Delhi.
Story continues below this ad
Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar did not have a meeting with AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday, although the former had sought an appointment. They, however, met Surjewala. Siddaramaiah met Kharge on his own late on Thursday.
Kharge was in Bengaluru on Thursday when Siddaramaiah made his statement. A group of Congress ministers considered to be close to the chief minister met Kharge at his residence in Bengaluru soon after.
Senior Congress minister Satish Jarkiholi said after the meeting that Siddaramaiah was elected the leader of the Congress Legislature Party through a poll conducted among the 134 Congress MLAs in May 2023. He indicated that Siddaramaiah still enjoys the support of the majority of the MLAs. “Only around 10 per cent of people want a change of leadership. The remaining 90 per cent are not concerned with it,” Jarkiholi claimed.
The AICC is not expected to make any move on the Karnataka leadership issue until the Bihar elections, where the Other Backward Classes (OBC) vote factor is considered crucial. Siddaramaiah, as the only Congress OBC chief minister in the country at present, would be important for optics.