BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was summoned by Congress party central leaders for a meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday, however, the reason for summoning the Chief Minister was not known. However, speculations are rife that central leaders summoned Siddaramaiah to arrive at a decision over transfer of power in Karnataka which has been doing the rounds in political circles since September last year. Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, a frontrunner for the post of Chief Minister, has not been invited by the central leaders.
Confirming his meeting with central leaders, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on Monday said that he received a phone call from All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal to meet central leaders in New Delhi and the meeting has been fixed on Tuesday at 11 am. Siddaramaiah stated he is unaware of the reason to be summoned to New Delhi. “Speculations will be doing rounds,” he said when asked if the meeting would be over a change of leadership.
Earlier on numerous occasions, Siddaramiah made it clear he would meet central leaders if summoned and assured to abide by the decision of the central leaders. The change of guard in Karnataka has been doing rounds for about 8 months but nothing substantial has happened so far.
While front runner for the post of Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar stuck to his unwritten agreement for change of leadership reached with Siddaramaiah when Congress party returned to power in May 2023. Shivakumar stated the unwritten agreement was that Siddaramaiah will serve for the first half of 5 years and the remaining tenure would be transferred to him.
But, Siddaramaiah clearly denied having entered into an agreement with Shivakumar for transfer of power. Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah completed 3 years as Chief Minister and a convention was held in Tumakuru to mark his 3 year rule.
The power tussle between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar drew the attention of Prime Minister Narendra during his recent visit to Bengaluru on May 10 referred to the change of power in his speech. Modi, over the indecision of Congress central leaders, stated “One (Siddaramaiah) does not know how long he will last in the chair while another (Shivakumar) is waiting for a chance.”
Prior to summoning Siddaramaiah to New Delhi, central leaders of the party wanted Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar to resolve the issue of transfer of power between themselves through mutual discussions. Going by the direction, both the leaders hosted breakfast meetings but failed to arrive at an amicable solution. Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar left it to the high command to decide on their fate.
Minister of Public Works Satish Jarkiholi, a close confidante of Siddarmaiah, hoped the all confusions would be cleared in the meeting. Congress MLA Belur Gopalakrishna hoped the meeting would give a sweet news.
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