SIDDU, DKS PUT GOSSIP TO REST

NT Correspondent
Bengaluru

A mid the growing buzz about a leadership change in Karnataka, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday asserted that matters like change of CM will be decided by the party high command even as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sought to send out a signal that all was well with his deputy, DK Shivakumar.

The Congress government in the state will remain "as solid as a rock" for five years, said the CM, maintaining that he and his deputy, Shivakumar are on good terms.

The dissatisfaction among some Congress MLAs including BR Patil and Raju Kage over 'corruption' and funds, and persistent rumours about an impending change of CM, brought the Karnataka Congress in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala to Bengaluru on Monday where he began meetings with MLAs.

Terming the meetings with MLAs as an organisational exercise undertaken by both AICC and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, Surjewala said, any news that is circulated in the media about leadership change is only a "figment of imagination".

This is a continuous exercise for introspection and development of the state. It will happen over a period of a month or month-and- a-half, during which he will be meeting party legislators, MPs, defeated candidates and District Congress Committee chiefs among others, Surjewala said.

Meanwhile, when reporters asked about some state Congress leaders openly discussing a possible change of chief minister in October, Kharge said it is up to the party "high command" to decide on such matters and that one should not create any unnecessary problem.

Speculation over leadership change has resurfaced after Congress MLA Iqbal Hussain claimed that Shivakumar may get an opportunity to become chief minister in two to three months, while Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna hinted at "revolutionary" political developments after September.

There was stiff competition between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the Chief Minister's post after the declaration of Assembly election results in May 2023, and the Congress had managed to convince the latter and made him the Deputy Chief Minister.