Wednesday, R V Deshpande, a senior Congress MLA and chairperson of the Administrative Reforms Commission, said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told him that he was going to step down.
The former minister met Siddaramaiah at his home and said that when some MLAs told him he shouldn’t quit, the CM told them he would keep his word and would do what he said.
As rumors spread, Congress’s leaders try to fix the problems
As soon as the news of retirement came out, the top leaders of Congress moved fast to calm things down. Randeep Singh Surjewala, a senior party leader, made it clear that there had been no decision to change who leads Karnataka.
Party insiders say the Congress doesn’t want any public fights between the Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar teams as they fear a power battle within the party could hurt it before the next election. Reports say the leaders are working on a joint plan to ensure the shift goes smoothly and doesn’t lead to a revolt from either side.
Political experts say the party’s problem is matching the goals of its two top leaders. Siddaramaiah is still one of Karnataka’s most powerful mass leaders and Shivakumar is largely credited with rebuilding the Congress party’s organization in the state and being a key factor in the party’s election win.
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New leadership talks are sparked by meetings in Delhi
There was more talk about it after Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were said to have met with top Congress leaders in New Delhi. Sources say that top figures, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, took part in talks to resolve the Karnataka leadership crisis.
Reports say that the top leaders of the Congress party may have considered several options, such as giving Siddaramaiah a bigger role at the national level or a seat in the Rajya Sabha as part of an honorable transfer plan.
People think that Siddaramaiah’s possible move to national politics is a way to keep the party in check while making room for Shivakumar to become chief minister. But neither leader has made a public statement about it yet.
Karnataka ministers and MLAs are also worried about the confusion, as many believe the cabinet will have to be reshuffled if the leadership changes. Reports say that some lawmakers are pushing to keep their jobs in case there is a change in government.
BJP keeps a close eye on Congress as it deals with pressure from within
The BJP, which is in opposition, has been paying close attention to what’s going on and blaming the Congress government of being too focused on internal politics to run the country. BJP officials have constantly attacked the Siddaramaiah government for alleged graft and problems with running the government while it was in power.
Recent scandals, like the Valmiki Corporation scam and other political problems, have made things harder for the Congress leadership in Karnataka. Leaders of the opposition say that the fighting within the ruling party shows that the state government is not stable.
Even though rumors are spreading, Siddaramaiah has not officially said that he wants to step down. His followers say that he still has a lot of support from MLAs and workers at the local level in Karnataka.
At the same time, Shivakumar’s fans are speaking out more and more. They think that the deputy chief minister should become the next chief minister of the state. As a result, the political climate has become very tense and every word that Congress leaders say gets a lot of attention.
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What Will Happen Next in Karnataka?
At the moment, it looks like Congress’s main goal is to keep things from getting worse and turning into a full blown crisis. Party leaders are trying to ensure that any leadership decision is made carefully so there aren’t any fights between factions, like the ones that happened in other places where Congress is in charge.
On Wednesday, ministers H. C. Mahadevappa, Zameer Ahmed Khan, Eshwar Khandre, Santosh Lad, and K. J. George met with the CM. MLAs Nanjegowda, B. Nagendra, Umesh Meti, A. S. Ponnanna, and Saleem Ahmed were also there.
There is a lot of talk that Siddaramaiah will quit as CM in a few days, most likely on Thursday, so that his assistant D K Shivakumar can take over.
He has asked the governor for time, and on Thursday, he will host a breakfast meeting at his official home with his cabinet partners.
On the other hand, until an official decision is made, Karnataka’s politics will remain unclear. The Congress leadership has one of the hardest jobs it’s had in recent years. It doesn’t matter if Siddaramaiah stays or Shivakumar finally gets the chance to lead the state.
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