Karnataka: Notice slapped on Channagiri MLA for comments on change of CM

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee on Sunday slapped a notice on Channagiri MLA Basavaraj Shivaganga for creating "confusion" and "embarrassment" to the party through his comments on the change of chief minister.

“Your public comments have embarrassed the party and are a violation of party discipline. The KPCC discipline enforcement committee has seriously taken note of your indisciplined comments. You are directed to provide your explanation within seven days of receiving this notice,” the notice by the discipline enforcement committee said.

Though Shivaganga has repeatedly claimed that Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar will soon be the chief minister, the trigger for the notice seems to be his comment on Saturday that Shivakumar will be the CM in December 2025.

The notice to Shivaganga comes more than a month after a similar notice was served to Ramanagara MLA Iqbal Hussain for similar comments. Hussain is also a known Shivakumar loyalist.

Ever since the Congress assumed power in the state in May 2023, there have been fights between the supporters of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar. Incidentally, the notice comes less than a week after senior leader K N Rajanna was sacked from the Cabinet due to his controversial comments about “vote theft” allegations by top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Rajanna is a known Siddaramaiah loyalist and has openly spoken against Shivakumar’s camp on numerous occasions.