Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah joins Minister Satish Jarkiholi's dinner amid leadership speculation

Belagavi: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, along with a group of Ministers and legislators, attended a dinner hosted by senior Minister Satish Jarkiholi here on December 18, official sources said.

The dinner meeting held at the residence of Jarkiholi, who is considered close to Siddaramaiah, has sparked speculations amid the ongoing power tussle within the ruling Congress over the CM post.

According to sources, the attendees included Ministers G Parameshwara, H C Mahadevappa, B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, M C Sudhakar, and MLA A S Ponnanna. All of them are considered close to Siddaramaiah.

The gathering followed a dinner on the night of December 17, where Jarkiholi hosted over thirty “like-minded” legislators at a hotel here.

While Siddaramaiah skipped it, his son and MLC Yathindra Siddaramaiah, confidant and MLA K N Rajanna, were among those who were present.

The dinner meetings come a week after over 30 Congress legislators, including some Ministers, met for dinner along with Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on the outskirts of Belagavi.

While some attendees have dismissed the meetings as "casual dinners" during the ongoing winter session of the state legislature, others suggested that political developments in the state were discussed.

The power tussle within the ruling party has intensified amid speculations about a change in chief minister in the state, after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20. The speculation was fuelled by a "power-sharing" pact between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar in 2023.

However, both CM and Deputy CM had recently held breakfast meetings at each others residences, on the instructions of the high command, which was seen as a move to pause the leadership tussle between the two and to signal Siddaramaiah's continuation as the CM for the time being, especially ahead of the Belagavi legislature session from December 8.

The winter session of the legislature is scheduled to end on Friday.