Siddaramaiah has declared himself ‘supreme leader’ of Congress, quips BJP's R Ashoka

Bengaluru: Wading into the ongoing leadership debate in the ruling Congress, senior BJP leaders on Thursday accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of sidelining the All India Congress Committee (AICC) top brass and ruling the state with unchecked authority.

R Ashoka and Chalavadi T Narayanswamy, Leaders of Opposition in the Assembly and Council respectively, sought to know if Siddaramaiah had become the real power centre in the Congress, replacing the high command.

The duo further alleged that the power tussle between Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar had paralysed administration in the state.

“Siddaramaiah has made it clear that he will remain the CM for five years, and perhaps after 2028. He issued this statement while sitting with the Congress high command in New Delhi,” the two LoPs asked at a press conference at the Karnataka BJP headquarters in Bengaluru.  

Training his guns on the CM, Chalavadi added, “If anyone touches him (Siddaramaiah), the Congress will collapse in Karnataka. Even the Congress high command knows this.”

Weighing in on the predicament that Shivakumar found himself in, Chalavadi added, “As part of an informal understanding, Shivakumar had been promised the CM’s chair for two-and-a-half years. And he threw in the towel at the start of the term, ceding the chair to Siddaramaiah. Now, that towel has gone missing.”

In a tongue-in-cheek jibe at AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Ashoka wrote on ‘X’: “Siddaramaiah has declared himself the supreme leader of the Congress. Kharge finally has his answer – the real high command is in Bengaluru.”

The Karnataka BJP’s official handle lamented that Siddaramaiah found himself in a position wherein he repeatedly had to assert his claim to the CM’s chair. “It’s a shame that he has to repeatedly say ‘I am the CM’,” read the post.

Siddaramaiah has declared himself the supreme leader of the Congress. Kharge finally has his answer – the real high command is in Bengaluru.

R Ashoka, Leader of Opposition