DK Shivakumar, MB Patil call truce in Udaipur at Cong's Chintan Shivir

Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar and the party’s campaign committee chairperson MB Patil appeared to have buried the hatchet following three days of animosity.

Shivakumar and Patil held talks at Udaipur in Rajasthan, on the sidelines of the Congress’ Chintan Shivir, ending with both of them laughing away and posing for cameras. Apparently, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah got them to call a truce.

Earlier this week, Shivakumar ruffled Patil’s feathers by suggesting that the Babaleshwar MLA had held talks with Higher Education Minister CN Ashwath Narayan of the BJP. Shivakumar suggested that Narayan may have met Patil to seek ‘protection’ from corruption allegations. Both Patil and Narayan denied having met each other, but Shivakumar’s displeasure at their reported hobnobbing had done the damage.

Also Read | Ashwath Narayan met MB Patil for protection: DK Shivakumar

This was followed by former Congress MP Divya Spandana (Ramya) expressing surprise over Shivakumar casting aspersions on Patil and urging leaders to fight as one, leading to an all-out social media war.

“Congress is a party of internal democracy. An unwritten code of ethics exists in politics. Those were breached. Hence Divya Spandana voiced her opinion in the best interest of the party,” Patil said in a tweet. “Some in the party have spoken out of turn and demeaned her. She’s a former MP and has worked against all odds for the party,” he said.