Crisis in Karnataka Congress? Minister, MLAs Loyal to DK Shivakumar Rush to Delhi Amid Power-Sharing Buzz

Amid

ongoing buzz over a crisis in Karnataka Congress, a minister and a few MLAs loyal to Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar headed to New Delhi to meet the party high command. Karnataka Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy, MLAs Iqbal Hussain, H C Balakrishna and S R Srinivas have headed to Delhi on Thursday, reported news agency PTI citing sources. Twelve more MLAs are likely to reach Delhi on Friday, the report said.However, when asked out the same, Shivakumar said he is not aware of it and that he is not keeping well.Earlier, about a dozen MLCs had camped in the national capital and spoke to the Congress general secretaries.

Siddaramaiah Completes 2.5 Years in Office

The development came a day after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah completed two-and-a-half years in office.There was a stiff competition between DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah for the chief minister's post following Congress' victory in Karnataka assembly elections in 2023.Read More: DK Shivakumar's 'Future Role' Remark Amid ‘November Revolution’ Talk: Is a Karnataka Leadership Shake-Up Coming? The Congress had then seemed to convince Shivakumar and make him Siddaramaiah's deputy, however, reports said that a compromise was reached based on the "rotation of chief minister" formula. According to the rotation formula, Shivakumar will be the chief minister of Karnataka as Siddaramaiah completes half term in office. But, no such decision was officially announced by Congress then. Shivakumar loyalists are said to have wanted their leader to occupy the chief minister's chair.

Will Continue As CM, Hints Siddaramaiah

Addressing a gathering in Chamarajanagar on Thursday, Siddaramaiah hinted that he would continue as the chief minister. He emphasised that his position has been strong from the beginning and will continue to remain so in the future."When I first became finance minister, a newspaper wrote -- this Siddaramaiah (a Kuruba) can't count a hundred sheep, how will he function as Karnataka's finance minister -- I accepted this as a challenge..... I have presented 16 budgets. Next, I will present the 17th budget," Siddaramaiah said, drawing loud applause.When a reporter pointed out Siddaramaiah's assertion that he will remain chief minister for the full five-year term, DK Shivakumar said, "I am very glad about it. No one has said no. No one questioned that he will not be the chief minister. Our party has given him responsibility to him to work as the chief minister. We all are working together."

Meanwhile, Shivakumar's brother and former MP D K Suresh said Siddaramaiah never backtracks from his promises. When asked whether Siddaramaiah would keep his promise made to Shivakumar, Suresh said he has no clue about it. "You should ask about big things only to big people. How can I answer such questions?" he asked reporters in Bengaluru.Suresh said his brother had communicated to party seniors whatever was needed. "The matter is now left to the party, its leadership, the AICC president and Rahul Gandhi to decide," he added.(With PTI inputs)