Karnataka power tussle: Siddaramaiah camp plots move to counter D K Shivakumar

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s camp is said to be plotting moves to counter Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar’s coterie, which has left the Congress high command worried about a possible replay of what happened in Rajasthan.

One such move to counter Shivakumar came from Siddaramaiah’s aide Basavaraj Rayareddi, who urged the Congress high command to convene a legislature party meeting if it wants to name a new chief minister.

“If any change is to be done, the top brass will call a Congress Legislature
Party (CLP) meeting for a discussion,” Rayareddi, the chief minister ’s economic advisor, said.

“When Siddaramaiah was made chief minister (in 2023), a CLP meeting was held and there was a contest. Siddaramaiah had the majority,” he pointed out.

Dinner

The senior lawmaker said there was no intimation by the Congress top brass about a midterm change in leadership. “We’ve not been informed about any power-sharing agreement,” he said. “There won’t be a change in CM.”

Late on Thursday night, Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi hosted his Cabinet colleagues G Parameshwara, Dr H C Mahadevappa, Dinesh Gundu Rao, K Venkatesh and former minister K N Rajanna for dinner. Playing down the meeting, Satish said, “We’ve had 15 such meetings in 30 months. It wasn’t connected to any political developments.”

Speaking to reporters, Rajanna was miffed when asked about Bangalore Milk Union Ltd (Bamul) president D K Suresh’s statement that Siddaramaiah should keep his promise.

“In 2023, there was a press release by the AICC, which said that Siddaramaiah will be CM and Shivakumar the lone deputy CM. It also stated that Shivakumar would continue until the Parliament election. This is in writing. But has it been followed?” Rajanna asked. 

During the day, Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan met Satish Jarkiholi
and senior MLC B K Hariprasad.