Credit: Special arrangement
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday said top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked him to ensure the government continued good work and clarified that
there was no other “message” from their brief meeting in Mysuru.
Shivakumar had a brief one-on-one conversation with Rahul on the tarmac on Tuesday. Even Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had a quick one-on-one talk with Rahul.
“There was no message. We met him (Rahul Gandhi). He asked us to continue working in a good way. We’ll work in a good way. We informed him about programmes that have been planned regarding MGNREGA in the state. We have also discussed BJP’s politics in the state,” Shivakumar told reporters.
Shivakumar declined to divulge more details. “I’m the state Congress president. He (Rahul) is the leader of the opposition (in Lok Sabha). He was earlier the AICC president. Can we discuss in public our meetings with him? You (media) are unnecessarily quoting someone off-the-record and creating confusion,” he said.
Shivakumar said that he is visiting New Delhi on January 16. According to sources, Shivakumar is going to the national capital to attend a party meeting on the upcoming Assembly election in Assam where he has been appointed as an observer.
Cryptic post?
On Wednesday morning, Shivakumar tweeted, “Efforts may fail, but prayers won’t.” Coming a day after his conversation with Rahul, the post led to speculation that Shivakumar was referring to his chief ministerial ambition.
Shivakumar specified that the post merely quoted what he said at a recent event. “Recently, I went to the Udyami Vokkaliga Expo 2025 where I said that while sharing my experience. The same was tweeted,” he said.
Cut-off box - DK brothers meet Kharge Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and his brother former Bangalore Rural MP DK Suresh met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday. Shivakumar and Suresh visited Kharge’s Sadashivanagar residence for talks. This was Shivakumar’s second meeting with Kharge this week.