Rift speculations grow in Cong after Siddaramaiah skips Shivakumar's name at Sadhana Samavesha

Mysuru: Factionalism in the Congress came to the fore indirectly, during the Sadhana (achievement) Samavesha, a mega convention of the Karnataka State government, on Maharaja's College Grounds, in Mysuru, on Saturday.

While Chief Minister Siddaramaiah mentioned the names of the dignitaries, to begin his speech, he skipped the name of his Deputy D K Shivakumar. After Siddaramaiah completed mentioning the names and was about to start the actual speech, a party leader went up to him and whispered in his ears, to remind him that he skipped the name of Shivakumar.

The CM got angry and said, “He is not there. He has left. You sit. Shivakumar left for Bengaluru. Always, we should take the names of only those who are present. We cannot welcome those who are sitting at home. You being an advocate should understand”.

AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge intercepted Mysuru District in-charge Minister H C Mahadevappa, who was whispering into the ears of Siddaramaiah, during his speech.

When he started speaking on a contradictory statement of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s take on equality in India, Kharge noticed that Mahadevappa was whispering into the ears of Siddaramaiah. He called Mahadevappa and asked him to stop as Siddaramaiah should listen to the contradictory statements of the BJP leaders.

Earlier, Mahadevappa too skipped the name of Shivakumar before starting his speech. When an associate reminded him. He mentioned Shivakumar’s name, with an eulogy.

Jai Cong

While Kharge apologised for hailing Congress in a government event after completing his speech, Shivakumar shouted the slogan ‘Jai Congress’ after completing his speech, and took his seat.