Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah with senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad.
Credit: CMO Karnataka
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah showed up at his bete noire and senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad's house for breakfast on Thursday morning, signalling a politically potent burial of their hatchet.
Siddaramaiah, along with Housing Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan and political secretary Naseer Ahmed, met Hariprasad and held talks.
Hariprasad, an AICC general secretary, has had differences with Siddaramaiah for many years now.
The breakfast meeting, which came a day after Congress general secretaries KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala held talks with Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar, raised eyebrows in political circles.
Both leaders claimed that they discussed the law-and-order situation in the communally-sensitive Dakshina Kannada district.
"Hariprasad had invited me for breakfast. That's why I came. We had a general discussion. Particularly, we discussed Mangaluru. The region needs harmony between Hindus and Muslims. I asked Hariprasad to visit Mangaluru," Siddaramaiah said.
But the talk in Congress circles was something else. The breakfast meeting could mean Hariprasad becoming a minister if a Cabinet reshuffle happens. Hariprasad was sulking after not being made a minister when Congress came to power two years ago.
Apparently, Shivakumar -- who is eyeing Siddaramaiah's chair -- is not in favour of a Cabinet reshuffle. The buzz is that Shivakumar wants a new ministry when he becomes the CM.
It is said that Siddaramaiah wants Hariprasad to talk to the Congress' top brass about inducting new ministers. A Gandhi family loyalist and an old warhorse, Hariprasad is considered to have his own clout in the party.
The outreach with Hariprasad is also seen as Siddaramaiah trying to be on good terms with 'native' Congressmen, alienating Shivakumar. Home Minister G Parameshwara's proximity with the CM is already visible.
Hariprasad insisted that he did not discuss politics with Siddaramaiah. "I wanted to discuss Mangaluru where violence is rising. I told him that I'd come see him. Instead, he said he'd come himself," the senior MLC said.
In 2023, Congress issued a show-cause notice to Hariprasad for publicly criticising Siddaramaiah. He had said that people wearing a Hublot watch and a dhoti can't claim to be a socialist, a clear dig at Siddaramaiah. On another occasion, Hariprasad said he knew how to install and remove CMs.
Asked about burying the hatchet with Siddaramaiah, Hariprasad said they had no disagreements. "He's the CM and hails from a backward community," he said. "There was peace before. There is peace now."