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Once again the murmur of major political change has intensified in the politics of Karnataka. There are reports coming out that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah may resign from his post on Thursday. According to sources, the party high command is preparing to make Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar the Chief Minister in his place. These speculations started after a long meeting held in Delhi on Tuesday.

In this marathon meeting, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and MP Rahul Gandhi. This meeting lasted for about six hours. Quoting sources, it has been told that in this meeting Rahul Gandhi asked Siddaramaiah to resign from the post of Chief Minister. A proposal has also been made to send him to Rajya Sabha and play a bigger national role in Delhi.

Siddaramaiah called his ministers for breakfast

If media reports are to be believed, after discussing with some supporters, Siddaramaiah has said that he will accept the decision of the high command. Meanwhile, he has called his ministers for breakfast on Thursday morning. It is believed that Siddaramaiah may submit his resignation on this day. However, amid these speculations, the party’s organization general secretary Venugopal had rejected these reports. He had said that all these news are mere speculations and there is no truth in them. According to Venugopal, only the Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council (MLC) elections were discussed in the meeting.

Siddaramaiah had clearly refused to resign.

Actually, there is a tussle going on in Karnataka Congress for the last one year regarding the post of Chief Minister. Supporters of DK Shivakumar are continuously claiming that the central leadership had decided on the formula for sharing power for two and a half years in 2023. According to sources, initially Siddaramaiah had flatly refused to resign. He had also warned the party leadership that if he was removed, the party could break as 50-60 MLAs would part ways with him. Siddaramaiah had clearly said that he would not work under DK Shivakumar.

Congress high command eyes 2028 assembly elections

In fact, the Congress high command wants to prepare the party afresh keeping in mind the 2028 assembly elections. The leadership is also aware that most of the MLAs are with Siddaramaiah and he is also the only OBC Chief Minister of Congress. In such a situation, the party wants to carry out this leadership change very carefully, so that the respect of Siddaramaiah is maintained and any kind of rebellion situation does not arise. On the lines of the formula adopted by the BJP in Bihar, there is a proposal to give a ministerial post to Siddaramaiah’s son. Siddaramaiah has asked for some time to consider this proposal. However, sources say that he may submit his resignation this week.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was also present in Tuesday’s meeting and according to sources, she was in favor of change of leadership in Karnataka. The next assembly elections in Karnataka are to be held in 2028, by which time Siddaramaiah will be 80 years old. The party also wants to curb the anti-incumbency sentiment by changing its face. Before reaching Delhi, Siddaramaiah had said on Monday night that he had been called by the high command and he was not aware of the agenda of the meeting. He had told that Venugopal had called him and told him the time and date. At the same time, before leaving for Delhi, DK Shivkumar had said that ‘under some circumstances it becomes necessary to go to Delhi, that is why I am going’.