'Whenever necessary': Mallikarjun Kharge on when Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar will be called for talks

Siddaramaiah, who recently became the longest-serving Chief Minister of Karnataka, has expressed confidence that he will complete the full five-year term

Bengaluru: AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar would be called to New Delhi for discussions whenever necessary, amid an ongoing "power tussle" within the ruling Congress in Karnataka.

Kharge said, "Whenever necessary, the party would call them," in response to a question from reporters on when the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister would be summoned to Delhi for talks.

The leadership tussle within the ruling party has intensified amid speculation about a possible change of Chief Minister after the Congress government completed the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20.

The speculation has been fuelled by the reported "power-sharing" arrangement between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar at the time of the government’s formation in 2023.

Siddaramaiah, who recently became the longest-serving Chief Minister of the State, surpassing the record held by D Devaraj Urs, has expressed confidence that he will complete the full five-year term. However, he has maintained that the final decision rests with the Congress high command.

Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, on Sunday said his hard work had brought him this far in politics and that he was confident about the Congress party’s future decision regarding him.

His remarks are being seen as an assertion of his chief ministerial ambitions.